Sweet and Sour Hibiscus Juice Recipe

Hibiscus juice or tea in my opinion is ONE of the BEST summer drinks! It is a very popular drink amongst Sudanese and Egyptians, especially during Ramadan. This Hibiscus drink can be either hot or cold. My favourite is drinking it cold on hot summer days and during iftar. It really helps quench that thirst and it is really beneficial too. Much better than buying premade drinks from the supermarket or local store. Follow my mom’s recipe and you can control how much sugar you want and remove all those unhealthy preservatives. The best part you learn something new and chose HEALTHY!

For more of my mom’s recipes click HERE! I will also upload recipes on my blog as well, from time to time :D.

I found out about this Hibiscus drink when my close friend, Omer, brought it during Ramadan. His wonderful mother had made the drink for her family and Omer brought some for me to taste. I never had Hibiscus before as it is not widely popular in South Asia, so I was truly amazed. It was such a great drink!

Hibiscus tea or juice has a cranberry like taste to it and is super refreshing. It is served all around the world from Europe to Africa. I had it in Mexico as well as in Indonesia both served with ice, chilled. They were good but nothing beats the one Omer’s mom made.

Inspired from Omer’s mom, I decided to make my own hibiscus drink with the help of my mom :D. There are many variations to make this drink and you can choose to make it hot or cold. Some leave the hibiscus leaves overnight or less than 30 minutes to soak in water. Whereas, some even boil the leaves. The choice is yours. The following is my mom’s recipe below!

Ingredients:

1 packet, 100 grams of Roselle (Hibiscus leaves)

You can get this at a Desi or Arab store

6 cups of Water
3 cups of cane sugar or just regular sugar is good

Preparation:

Add all the water to the kettle and bring to boil.
Wash all the Roselle Hibiscus leaves to remove dirt and keep aside.
In a separate jug or blender add all the Roselle Hibiscus leaves.
Now, take the boiled water from the kettle and pour in blender or jug. *I used a blender since I needed a lid to cover it and let it steep.
Stir the leaves in the blender or jug.
Place a lid on the blender or jug and let it steep for 20 minutes.

After 20 minutes, add all the cane sugar and stir.
Allow the syrup to cool completely in room temperature.
Once cooled, pour the syrup in a separate bottle using a mesh strainer to collect the leaves.
Your syrup concentrate is ready and you can store in the fridge for 10 days or more.
When you want to make your drink, fill a cup with 1/3 syrup concentrate and 2/3 water. You can add ice cubes as well. Also, you may add more or less concentration of syrup.
Enjoy!