Making hibiscus tea

Since we have this gorgeous indoor hibiscus tree, I figured I should try to make some hibiscus tea. I’ve been trying out all sorts of different lightly-flavored sun teas this summer, so let the experiment begin!

We moved the hibiscus tree from the back windows near my little reading area to over in front of the sliding glass door. We don’t actually use this door, as there is an insert with a cat door for Chester (hidden by the pot) in the summers. Since the move it seems like the plant is expanding even more - stretching out!

My inspiration: Wouldn’t it be fun to have some tea made out of these beautiful, edible, bright pink petals?

Separating the collected petals for drying. Stamens, as beautiful as they are, can be bitter, so those are discarded.

The dehydrator has six lined trays. I filled up three of them with hibiscus petals.

Typically we dehydrate (or freeze dry) in the corner of the garage, but I didn’t want to forget about this project, so I plopped the dehydrator right on the counter next to the sink for a few days.

I had no idea what temperature or time to set this at. I think I ended up drying them for several 4-6 hour sessions.

The dried petals retain their pretty pink color. I didn’t crush them up - if the whole-petal tea does not work, I’ll try that next.

I wasn’t convinced I need the dehydrator step. I get only a few spent flowers a week, so now I just collect them as they fall. I separate the petals immediately and let them dry in the drawer under the coffee/tea station.

Just add cold water to a ½ cup of dried petals…

…and set it outside on the front steps to steep. I really want the color as dark as possible, so I’ll have to let it sit outside all day and then overnight in the refrigerator to get the maximum pinkage.

I checked on the tea about 4 hours later, and while it was a bit darker, it had lost its pinkness and was closer to standard tea-looking. I decided to bring it in and refrigerate it for a while. I tasted it tonight, and its flavor was actually pretty good! But too light.

Next time I will try just steeping it in the fridge with twice as many flowers, and I will crunch up the flowers first. I love experiments!