If you're looking for a delicious and healthy beverage, hibiscus tea may be just what you need. This vibrant and flavorful tea is made from the dried petals of the hibiscus flower and is packed with antioxidants and other beneficial nutrients. In this guide, we'll show you how to make hibiscus tea at home in just a few easy steps.

How to Make Hibiscus Tea

Before you start making hibiscus tea, you'll need to gather a few key ingredients and pieces of equipment. First, you'll need dried hibiscus flowers, which you can find here. You'll also need water, a pot or kettle to boil the water in, and a strainer or tea infuser to strain out the flowers once the tea is brewed. Optional ingredients include sweeteners like honey, stevia or sugar, as well as other herbs or spices to add flavor.

Hibiscus Tea - Ingredients

• 1 Teaspoon Organic Hibiscus (Calyx) the 'Tea'
• 180-250 ml filtered water, boiled, hot.
• Cup or heat proof glass
• Stevia, honey or sugar to sweeten

 

 

How to Make Hibiscus Tea - Method

1. Place 1 teaspoon of tea into cup.
2. Pour over boiling water, stir 
3. Cover cup with lid, or saucer.
4. Allow to steep for 5-10 minutes, stirring several times during this time.
5. Strain and pour into glass.

The hibiscus 'tea' is edible. You can leave it whole and eat it while you drink, or you can add it to your compost.

Hibiscus Tea Vitamin C

Vitamin C has an important role to play in our body and good health. Luckily, hibiscus tea has high concentrations of Vitamin C and it's an extremely versatile ingredient, it's easy for the body to digest and absorb it making it a super food in it's own way - with the benefits of being good for you.

Hibiscus tea is a popular herbal tea made from the dried petals of the hibiscus flower. It is rich in vitamin C, which is a powerful antioxidant that can provide a number of health benefits. Here are some benefits of hibiscus tea that are related to its vitamin C content:

• Boosts Immunity: Vitamin C is an essential nutrient for the immune system, and hibiscus tea is a good source of vitamin C. Drinking hibiscus tea regularly can help boost your immunity and protect you from infections and diseases.

• Anti-inflammatory Properties: Vitamin C has anti-inflammatory properties and may help reduce inflammation in the body. Hibiscus tea contains high levels of vitamin C, making it an effective natural remedy for inflammatory conditions like arthritis and joint pain.

• Skin Health: Vitamin C is essential for the production of collagen, a protein that helps keep your skin healthy and youthful. Drinking hibiscus tea regularly may help improve the overall health and appearance of your skin.

• Digestive Health: Hibiscus tea contains a variety of nutrients, including vitamin C, that can help promote digestive health. It may help soothe digestive issues like constipation, bloating, and stomach cramps.

• Antioxidant Properties: Vitamin C is a powerful antioxidant that can help protect your body from damage caused by free radicals. 

• Versatile Ingredient: Hibiscus tea is a versatile ingredient that has been used for centuries in drink (tea, hot, cold) food and most recently as a botanical for alcohol and cocktails, due to its flavour, natural colour and beneficial properties.

What Does Hibiscus Tea Taste Like?

Hibiscus tea has a tangy taste, it's like a cross between cranberry and raspberry, it has a sweetness in a strange kind of way. It's delicious and so refreshing, especially when it is chilled and served over ice.

How to Use Hibiscus Tea

Hibiscus tea can be made using this recipe, with only 30-50% of the water so you end up with a more concentrated dose, for cooking.

Hibiscus Tea for Cooking and Cocktails

When you want to create flavoured cocktails, simply add your tea directly to the spirits and allow it to 'mellow' in the flavours before use. Lots of recipes are available at The Tea Cartel you can try at home.

Hibiscus Tea as a Drink

Hibiscus Tea can be made and enjoyed either hot, warm or cold. It's a versatile ingredient that works well in cocktails, gin and cooking recipes. The favourite iced tea at The Tea Cartel is made with Hibiscus and a slice of lime! Or making a concentrated version 50ml boiling water with one teaspoon tea and freezing it into ice cube trays, adding it to soda water. Try it out and let us know what you think.

Real Tea Garden Photos - Hibiscus Tea

 

Hibiscus Tea as a beautiful plant in your garden

Here is a photo of the hibiscus tea flower/plant growing in our own private tea garden. You can see the bright yellow bloom, with the deep red magenta coloured centre. This is the flower before we pick. We will wait for the flower to drop off then, beneath that we pick the flower bud (the centre piece) and pull apart the calyxes into separate pieces for drying.

We estimate it takes about 10-13 kg of flower buds to make 1kg of tea, it's highly labour intensive but the taste is so enjoyable and it's worth the effort.

Hibiscus Tea - Plant at Home (Perth, Australia)

 

Hibiscus Tea Flower Harvest

Hibiscus Tea Harvest

Hibiscus Tea prepared for cooking (making jam and cordial syrup)

Hibiscus Tea Flower Bud (natural gelatin)

The inner bud of the hibiscus is boiled gently over low heat, separately to make a natural gelatin for binding the ingredients together. 

When you buy Hibiscus Tea from The Tea Cartel, you'll receive in it a dried format - as pictured below. There are no additives or fillers, the tea is a deep magenta colour and has a soft, deep raspberry fragrance.

Here's a photo of what it looks like.

Hibiscus Tea in it's Natural Form

Packet of Aloha Hibiscus Tea 

So now you know how to make hibiscus tea, real question is, what are you going to make with it? Will you try a cocktail, iced tea or make a food recipe? Add your comments below.

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