Hibiscus Tea

Chef Margot shares with us her favorite recipe for scarlet hibiscus tea, perfect for serving warm or iced, and paired with lemonade or club soda.

Ingredients
2 oz dried hibiscus flowers*
2 oz loose leaf tea–rose hip tea and black tea make a nice combo–green tea is not a good choice for this recipe
1 lemon, well-scrubbed, sliced thin, seeds taken out
1 gallon filtered or distilled water, brought just to a boil

Directions
Place tea and hibiscus flowers in a big tea strainer–if you don’t have one, just tie it up in a large coffee filter with kitchen string. Place the strainer or tied-up filter in a large heat-proof glass container. Pour boiling water over and stir gently. Allow tea to steep for 2 hours, giving it an occasional nudge with a wooden spoon. Remove tea and flowers, add lemon slices and sweeten to taste. This brilliant scarlet beverage is wonderful straight, chilled or even warmed, but it’s also great with lemonade and/or club soda. It has the added advantage of being super-high in vitamin c. A beautiful pitcher of this looks great on your table.

Although this makes approximately 1 gallon, you may double it easily. Sweeten or not to taste–agave nectar is good for this recipe.

Buen provecho!