I had my first chilled glass of this wonderful, simple beverage last year at a friend's house in Camelinas, a Morelian suburb. I have rarely seen the "jamaica" flower, which we Estado Unidenses call "hibiscus," much less consider it a food source. The hibiscus tree dots most gardens in Michoacán, being hidden from the street behind high stone walls and wrought iron doors. Not to be misleading; people here don't normally harvest their own flowers. If they make the drink at home, they use dried whole flowers, usually sold out of heaped baskets in the mercados here for about ten or fifteen pesos for one hundred grams. (Again, I'm having fun with the metric system here.) Anyway, this drink was praised for it's natural role as a diuretic, and if you make it without the sugar that we so much enjoy, it does have a pleasant taste, very much like cranberry extract, and so believing in the health properties is not difficult. To make at home, simply boil the flowers I bring you having snuck them through customs and enjoy!
El Agua de Jamaica
Boil one cup dried hibiscus flowers in a quart saucepan full of water for 5 minutes.
After water is a deep red, add sugar to taste, usually 1 1/2 cups. This isn't Kool-Aid!
After 5 minutes the sugar is dissolved.
Use a strainer you aren't overly attached to, as this juice can stain, over a large mixing bowl or wide mouthed pitcher and pour the liquid straining out the flower petals.
Transfer the "juice" into a pitcher and wait to refrigerate until the liquid has cooled.
Later add some ice and a lime wedge to your glass and enjoy!
P.S. Not bad with vodka, for you Cape Cod fans out there!
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