Hibiscus Linden Iced Tea Recipe
How are y'all keeping cool this weekend? For me, it's flamboyant shirts and iced hibiscus tea.
I make tea with herbs from my garden as much as possible. But in the summer, I've always got hibiscus calyces on hand from @mountainroseherbs.
The species that produces these bright-red calyces is Hibiscus sabdariffa, also known as roselle. (Two native temperate species are explored in Native Culinary Herbs: Online Gardening Course). Roselle is native to West and Central Africa. It now grows in tropical and sub-tropical climates around the world, both in the wild and in cultivation.
Though roselle can be grown as an annual here in Zone 5, it flowers so late—October if I'm on top of early seed starting—that there's no guarantee I'll get a harvest. Buying it by the pound is well worth it for me.
For iced tea, I love hibiscus with aromatic herbs like mint, lemon balm, lemongrass, tulsi, anise hyssop, or linden flowers.
Image: Roselle, Hibiscus sabdariffa. Wikicommons source.
Image: linden flowers (Tilia sp.), with green papery “wing.”
Linden flowers (Tilia spp.) offer both delightful aromatics and hydrating mucilage. I see linden trees growing all over WNY; you can also buy the flowers in bulk.
I suggest adding linden flowers “by the handful” in the recipe below because their long, papery “wings” aren’t agreeable to measuring spoons. It’s a gentle herb and the flavor is pleasant, so you don’t have to worry about overdoing it.
Hibiscus Linden Iced Tea
1 gallon water
5 Tbsp dried chopped hibiscus calyces
4 handfuls dried linden flowers (with papery wings attached if you have them)
Honey to taste, or sweetener of choice (I like 1/2 - 3/4 cup per gallon tea)
Bring water to a boil. Turn off heat and add herbs. Stir, cover pot, and let steep 15-20 min.
Strain herbs out, squeezing mucilage from the herbs into your tea for extra hydrating power. Sweeten to taste.
Serve over ice. Garnish if desired with whatever herb you've got on hand. (Short-leafed mountain mint, Pycnanthemum muticum, is pictured here).
Image: hibiscus linden iced tea, served with mountain mint garnish. Glass reads “PBS Nerd” with PBS logo.
