Tea For Your Sipping Pleasure
Tea is a popular drink across the globe - hot tea in the winter and a cold, refreshing iced tea in the summer. Did you know that many of the plants that make a delicious tea can be grown in your Minnesota garden? Sumac, nettle, ginger and mint are just a few local plants from which delicious tea can be made. In this month’s Garden to Kitchen section, we feature a tea from the lovely roselle hibiscus flower. Although, it is commonly grown in warmer temperature zones, it can be grown as an annual in Minnesota.
Anita Oakman, Dakota County Master Gardener
Tea is a popular drink across the globe - hot tea in the winter and a cold, refreshing iced tea in the summer. Did you know that many of the plants that make a delicious tea can be grown in your Minnesota garden? Sumac, nettle, ginger and mint are just a few local plants from which delicious tea can be made. In this month’s Garden to Kitchen section, we feature a tea from the lovely roselle hibiscus flower. Although, it is commonly grown in warmer temperature zones, it can be grown as an annual in Minnesota.
Agua (AH-wa or AUG-wa) de jamaica (hah-MY-kah) is a refreshingly tart iced tea that you may have tried either on a trip to Mexico or at your local Tex-Mex restaurant. Did
You know that its lovely deep red color and delicious flavor comes from dried roselle hibiscus flowers? Though the roselle hibiscus originated in West Africa, it is commonly grown in Mexico, and South and Central America.
This basic recipe for jamaica, taken from muydelish.com, is a very simple 3-ingredient infusion. Of course, anyone may have their own family recipe which they may share with you or not!
Ingredients for the basic recipe are:
2 cups dried roselle hibiscus flowers (found at your local Latin store)
16 cups cold water
1 cup sugar, or to taste
Bring 2 cups of dried jamaica flowers (also known as hibiscus and flor de Jamaica) and 8 cups of cold water to a soft boil for 5 minutes in a medium pot. Remove from heat. Add 1 cup sugar, or a sweetener variation below, and stir until dissolved. Add the remaining cups of cold water and steep for at least 2 hours or overnight. When steeping is complete, strain the flowers from the tea and pour tea into a large pitcher. (Yes, you may compost the spent jamaica!) Store in the refrigerator and pour over ice whenever the spirit hits you!
Variations during boiling include adding a cinnamon stick, a pinch of allspice or a little fresh ginger. Alternative sweeteners include piloncillo – a cone-shaped brown sugar, or agave syrup. You may add a mint sprig or some lime juice to your glass – delicious!
References:
https://plants.ces.ncsu.edu/plants/hibiscus-sabdariffa/
https://www.epicgardening.com/roselle/
Photo Credits: Worldoffloweringplants.com (1), www.flickr.com (2), www.gardensall.com (3)