Recipes

Iced Ginger Hibiscus Tea

July 28, 2011

Hibiscus tea has a tart, floral flavor that pairs beautifully with spicy fresh ginger. You can find dried hibiscus leaves at Latin American grocery stores, where they are called flor de jamaica, African grocery stores, where they are called bissap, or Caribbean grocery stores, where they are called sorrel.

An herbal iced tea recipe using hibiscus flowers and ginger simple syrup.

Ingredients

¹⁄₂ cup water
¹⁄₂ cup sugar
One 3" piece of fresh ginger, peeled and grated
¹⁄₂ cup dried red hibiscus petals
8 cups water, room temperature
Ice

Instructions

Make the ginger simple syrup: Combine the sugar and ¹⁄₂ cup of water in a 2-quart saucepan. Bring to a boil and let syrup cook for 3 minutes, stirring until all of the sugar is dissolved. Remove the pot from heat and add the grated ginger. Let syrup cool completely and strain. Set the syrup aside.
Make the hibiscus tea: In a 4-quart saucepan, pour 4 cups of water over the dried hibiscus petals and place the pot over low heat. Bring the water to a slow simmer and let cook for 5 minutes. Turn off the heat and let the tea steep for another 5 minutes. Strain into a pitcher and add in the remaining 4 cups of water. Fill the pitcher with ice.
To serve, pour tea into glasses and stir in ginger syrup, sweetening to taste.