Agua de Jamaica
Whether you call it Agua de Jamaica or Hibiscus Tea, this delicious, refreshing infusion is high in vitamin C and may also help to reduce systolic blood pressure..
Rinse hibiscus calyces under cold water to remove any impurities, then bring 2 cups of water and 1 cup of hibiscus to a boil, then remove from heat and add a handful of fresh mint and another of fresh stevia (or another non-refined sweetener such as raw honey or rapadura/sucanat) to the pot and allow to cool to room temperature.
Add 2 quarts of cold filtered water, strain and serve in a tall glass over cracked ice.
Dink said,
June 4, 2009 at 7:06 pm
I want some where do I get the hibiscus?
Ren said,
June 4, 2009 at 7:17 pm
If you can’t find it locally, you can order it from Mountain Rose Herbs – I’ve always been happy with their stuff.
Erin said,
June 7, 2009 at 10:22 am
I L-O-V-E Jamaica! I sometimes will add a coupe of cloves & a cinnamon stick to the brew & I used to use Agave to sweeten, but now I will just go with Honey or Rapadura.
It’s the best summertime beverage!
Also, I shouldn’t mention (because I haven’t tried it it yet, but I made a Water Kefir with it! It’s prolly done ‘fermenting” and gosh does it look purty! Cheers!
PS I love your blog, it inspires me to be a bit more creative with my meals! I wanna know who you cook for that you go to such lengths! ;)
Ren said,
June 7, 2009 at 11:50 am
I decided to grow stevia this year (I gave up on the agave too) to see what all the hype is about. While it works OK in teas and infusions, I haven’t found much other use for it. I may try dehydrating the leaves at the end of the season, but I’ll likely stick with honey, rapadura/sucanat and the occasional piloncillo.
I had the same thought with water kefir the other day while reading cheeseslave’s post about homemade soda pop- please let us know how that turns out!
I cook for all my loved ones, here and gone :-)
Thanks, Erin!
Ren
Clementina said,
June 18, 2009 at 10:06 pm
I think stevia and agua de jamaica go togetherl perfecty. I’m going to try it the next time I make some.
Ren said,
June 18, 2009 at 10:43 pm
Thank you, Clementina! The whole, fresh leaves seem to work pretty well in an infusion such as this.
I need to try your recipe for horchata- it sounds amazing!
Carla said,
July 29, 2010 at 2:42 pm
I had to make this after coming across your site on tastespotting a few days ago! I found the hibiscus calyces at a local Mexican grocery store and I can’t tell you how delicious and refreshing it turned out. Thanks for posting your recipe!!
Ren said,
July 29, 2010 at 4:19 pm
That’s great to hear! Thanks very much, Carla!
Agua de Pepino « Edible Aria said,
June 3, 2012 at 6:43 pm
[...] healthy way (at least when homemade) to stay hydrated during the long Texas summer. Along with agua de Flor de Jamaica (made with hibiscus flowers) and agua de horchata (rice and cinnamon), this cucumber cooler is [...]