Hibiscus Flower for Tea

In recent years hibiscus flower has become a really popular ingredient in teas. We use this ingredient in several teas but we believe when you use it neat (without any other flavours) the taste and fragrance really shines. If you've not yet tried hibiscus flower tea please give it a go.

Hibiscus flower for tea is a really versatile ingredient, you can use it for drinking hot or cold, cooking, as a flavouring and colouring for cocktails and infusion for your gin, as a natural botanical.

Truly, the hibiscus flower is the reminder of a tropical holiday.

It's hard to resist a smile when you see a hibiscus flower. It's colour spans the entire bloom from the edge, right to the centre. There are many varieties of hibiscus, but the one we use for tea is called "Rosella" the botanical name is hibiscus sabdariffa.

We've been growing this exact plant in our home garden and making teas for many years. The flowers are bright yellow with the centre being a dark red.

The part we use for making tea is called a calyxes. It is the cup like waxy part that holds the petals in place. This is dried and used to make a refreshing tea that tastes like cranberry. Some prefer to add a small 1/4 teaspoon of stevia to sweeten it when being brewed, it's entirely a personal choice.

It is thought the roselle plant originated in West Africa and then was shared throughout Asia, India and the South Pacific. It grows well but only lasts one season. The plant has several uses.

• Leaves for eating (high in iron, used in chutney and Indian/Malay recipes)
• Calyxes for tea, jams and syrups 
• Inner buds is used to boil with the calyxes to create a natural gelatine when making jams.

Top 5 Ways to Use Hibiscus 

Image: Hibiscus, Mulberry and Raspberry Coulis

Everybody has different tastes and ideas of how to use hibiscus, but imagine how you could use raspberries, but as a much easier ingredient to cook with. Here are our top 5 ways to use hibiscus tea at home or in a cafe/restaurant:

1. Drinking hibiscus tea as a hot beverage before bed, or as an iced tea for hydration when doing exercise or outdoor activities. We like to add a tiny bit of stevia or honey to sweet it.

2. Make hibiscus coulis - which can be used in desserts, cocktails, meals, breakfast with chia, so many different ways.

3. Infuse gin or vodka (white spirits) for cocktails and tonics.

4. Make marinades for salmon to bbq

5. Make concentrated tea (1/4 water) and pour into ice cube trays 

Oh... There's two more. I know I only promised 5, but this one was too good to let it slip past.....

6. Hibiscus Jelly. Yummy.  You can use hibiscus jelly in trifle or as a dessert on it's own. 

7. Hibiscus Hot Sauce - seriously wicked with hot chilli and vinegar, blow your socks off.

Benefits of Hibiscus Tea

The colour is a brilliant magenta and the taste is incredible. This flower makes the best iced teas and cocktails. Enjoy it on a hot summers day. It may help with inhibiting carb absorption and reducing blood pressure. It may also help those suffering diabetes to control the sugar cravings, it's high in Vitamin C, to boost the immune system.

Highly prized ingredient by cultures in South East Asia, Pacific, Africa and India. This flower has many beneficial properties for good health and wellbeing.

We have many articles here at The Tea Cartel about Hibiscus, if you're interested in learning more simply head to the search bar at the top of the page and type in hibiscus to see more information.

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