Hibiscus tea is a perfect summer drink to cool off the summer heat. It is a refreshing and easy drink to make! You only need a handful of ingredients to bring this drink to life.
For more healthy and delicious Thai drinks, try my Butterfly pea flower tea, it's so healthy and easy to make! For a very refreshing and naturally colorful lemonade, try Butterfly pea flower lemonade. Then indulge a little with the delectable Thai iced tea recipe to give life a little balance of sweet and healthy!
What is Hibiscus Tea or Nam Kra Jeap?
Hibiscus tea is made from dried red hibiscus flowers, thus the vibrant red-colored drink. The dried flowers are steeped with hot water and sugar then you have the option of adding a little touch of lemon or lime juice for the taste to make a delicious Thai tea. For my recipe, I’ll be using dried hibiscus flowers since my winters here in the North are tragically too old for these tropical red beauties.
Why This Recipe Works
- It’s a perfect summer drink, especially around the fourth of July
- Hibiscus flowers tea is all-natural and even better if you can find organic flowers!
- Hibiscus is full of health benefits that your body will love. We’ll ignore the sugar for now, but you can use healthy substitutes too. More hibiscus tea health benefits are in the notes section below.
- It’s so easy to make! Only a handful of ingredients are needed.
- It can be made ahead of time and it’s a perfect drink for backyard BBQs or summer grilling parties.
- You can have it hot or cold so you can drink it all year round!
What Goes Into Hibiscus Tea Recipe
Below are the ingredients for making hibiscus tea. Very minimal and you can even omit the lime/lemon juice since hibiscus flowers are naturally a little tart. The recipe is easily adjustable as you prefer the taste of your tea.
- Dried hibiscus flowers
- Hot water
- Sugar
- ¼ cup lime/lemon juice, as needed.
- For garnishing: ginger, mint, Thai basil, lemon, or lime slices.
How To Make Hibiscus Tea Recipe
STEP ONE
Combine hot water, sugar, and dried hibiscus flowers in a glass bowl or medium pot.
STEP TWO
Add hot (boiling water to the tea mixture, and let it steep for 20 minutes. Use a whisk to stir and make sure the sugar is dissolved. The longer you let the tea steep, the more tangy your tea will be. Don’t go over 30 minutes as the tea can get a bitter taste.
STEP THREE
Once cooled, strain the tea mixture over the sink and place the tea in a vase, refrigerate for 1 hour.
STEP FOUR
Prepare your glasses with ice cubed and your favorite garnishing options. Pour the tea over a glass and serve! Place the leftover tea in the fridge for up to 4 days. Enjoy!
Helpful Kitchen Notes
- You can make hot tea from this hibiscus tea recipe too! Just drink it hot or warm with your favorite garnish!
- Garnishing ideas: Mint, lemongrass, kaffir lime leaves, rosemary, Thai basil, cucumbers slices, lemon, lime, oranges, peaches, nectarine and so much more!
- Sugar. You can use white, palm, coconut, or monk fruit sugar. Honey and agave are great options for this tea too.
- Use ice cubed trays to store leftover tea for future uses! Such a fun and beautiful little trick!
FAQs
What is Hibiscus Tea Good for?
Hibiscus tea is high in antioxidants, thus the bright red color helps boost your immune system and fight off sickness. Hibiscus tea also helps reduce high blood pressure, according to Wikipedia. The tea also aids digestion, helps with weight loss, prevents obesity, and slows the aging process. Just an all-around very beneficial drink!
What Flavors go Well with Hibiscus?
Hibiscus tea is versatile and goes so well with so many things. In the summertime, try adding sweet and tangy fruit like oranges, apples, pineapple, peaches, lemon, or limes for a more refreshing taste. In the winter, try dry spices like cinnamon, star anise, and cloves with winter herbs like rosemary, ginger, candied grapefruit, and so on.
Is it OK to Drink Hibiscus Tea Daily?
As long as you drink hibiscus tea without the added sugar, there's no reason why you can't drink one or two glasses of it on a daily basis. The dried hibiscus tea flowers have a naturally tangy-sweet taste to them which helps gives plain water a refreshing taste. If you don't like drinking plain water, hibiscus tea really helps add flavors to your water.
What are the Side Effects of Taking Hibiscus Tea?
Like all things in life, moderation is key. If you drink anything an excessive amount, there tend to be unpleasant consequences. Since hibiscus is a plant and not processed food, there are few negative side effects. Enjoy the sweetened tea in moderation but I wouldn't stress about the straight-up tea with no sugar added! (:
More Thai Summer Recipes You’ll love!
- Butterfly pea flower tea
- Butterfly pea flower lemonade
- Creamy coconut lime mojito
- Thai iced tea
- Thai limeade tea
- Thai coconut ice cream recipe
- Glass noodles salad with shrimp
- EasyThai beef salad recipe
- Thai green mango salad with cashew
- Namtok beef waterfall salad
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Print
Hibiscus Tea Recipe
- Total Time: 25 minutes
- Yield: 8 cups 1x
- Diet: Gluten Free
Description
Hibiscus tea is a perfect summer drink to cool off the summer heat. It is a refreshing and easy drink to make! You only need a handful of ingredients to bring this drink to life.
Ingredients
- 8 cups of hot water
- 1 cup dried hibiscus flowers
- ¾ cup sugar
- ¼ cup lime/lemon juice, as needed.
- For garnishing: ginger mint, Thai basil, lemon, or lime slices.
Instructions
- Combine water, sugar, and dried hibiscus flowers in a glass bowl or medium pot.
- Add hot (boiling water to the tea mixture, and let it steep for 20 minutes. Use a whisk to stir and make sure the sugar is dissolved. The longer you let the tea steep, the more tangy your tea will be. Don’t go over 30 minutes as the tea can get a bitter taste.
- Once cooled, strain the tea mixture over the sink and place the tea in a vase, refrigerate for 1 hour.
- Prepare your glasses with ice cubed and garnishing options. Pour the tea over a glass and serve! Place the leftover tea in the fridge for up to 4 days.
Notes
- You can make hot tea from this hibiscus tea recipe too! Just drink it hot or warm with your favorite garnish!
- Garnishing ideas: Mint, lemongrass, kaffir lime leaves, rosemary, Thai basil, cucumbers slices, lemon, lime, oranges, peaches, nectarine and so much more!
- Sugar. You can use white, palm, coconut, or monk fruit sugar. Honey and agave are great options for this tea too.
- Use ice cubed trays to store leftover tea for future uses! Such a fun and beautiful little trick!
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- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 20
- Category: Drinks
- Method: stove
- Cuisine: Thai
Keywords: Hibiscus Tea Recipe, hibiscus tea, thai hibiscus tea, hibiscus iced tea,
Suwanee
Yes, you can! Be sure the remove the stems and the calyx (green parts) of hibiscus flowers before use. You may need a few extra flesh flowers too for the colors and flavors. What color is your hibiscus? Just curious. I've used pink ones and got brown colored tad instead of pink...took me by surprise a bit. LOL
The Viking
Can you make this with fresh hibiscus flowers? I have several hibiscus in my garden and thought it might be cool to use what I already have! Thanks for the recipe.