Tangled Branches: Cultivated
happenings in and around my zone 6b gardens in northern Virginia and in central Virginia
Friday, September 26, 2008
Flor de Jamaica
I'm not sure what motivated me to order seeds of Thai Red Roselle (Hibiscus sabdariffa). Maybe it was the description: "Beautiful 2-3’ plants with red stems, leaves, and flowers. The bright red calyxes can be used to make a "zingy" tea, sauce or jam." Hmmm, well, the leaves on my plants are green, the flowers are creamy white with a red center. The stems are more or less red. I agree that it's a beautiful plant. There's a code word in that description however, and fans of a certain popular brand of herbal teas will recognize it. I didn't. Duh.
Let's rewind to last winter. I ordered the seeds. I sowed the seeds. I tended the seedlings in the cold frame and planted them outdoors. I watched them grow. They began to bloom in July.
I watched the Japanese beetles eat the leaves. And eventually I saw the "fruit".
The red bud-like structures you see above are the calyces left behind after the flower drops off. They're small at first and grow larger as the seed capsule inside matures.
Now that the fruit is here what do I do with it? Although I found many references online telling me how to prepare beverages from the dried calyces, I only found one that told me how to prepare the calyces for drying. It was the cutting-away-the-seed-part that I didn't know about.
I harvested and dried the first batch a few weeks ago, and picked a small quantity this morning before the rain picked up again (Hooray!) (for the rain, I mean). This is what I brought in:
And this is what it looks like as you cut away the calyx from the seed, revealing the green seed capsule inside:
And this is what you end up with after you've cut and dried a large number of them:
I brewed a cup of tea this morning from it and thought it tasted similar to but much fresher and fruitier than the commercial stuff in teabags. After I read several conflicting sets of directions for preparing it, I ignored them all and put about a teaspoon of dried calyces into a mug-sized tea fiilter. After measuring it out, I crushed them with my fingers to a more tea-like consistency. I poured boiling water over it just as if I was making real tea (Camellia sinensis) but let it steep, covered, for 10 minutes. It brewed up cranberry red in color, very tart, but with an underlying fruit flavor. I'd be tempted to add sweetening to it next time, but I wanted to taste the flavor by itself first.
The plant and product are known by many different names - roselle, sorrel, jamaica, and karkady are some of the most common ones. The most attractive name, to my mind, is Flor de Jamaica. I plan to grow a lot more of these plants next year - I can envision a long hedge of them.
There are several good write-ups online if you want to know more.
- The Red Tea of Egypt
- Cooking with Saril (already mentioned above about preparing for drying)
- Infuse Roselle for a Tropical Treat
- Bottoms Up - Hibiscus
Labels: hibiscus
14 Comments:
Thanks for the post and thanks for stopping by my blog. I knew that Red Zinger was made from Hibiscus but I am pleased that it comes from a plant I intend to grow next season. Great information!
Ah, roselle-or sorrel as it is known here, is a ubiquitous Christmas drink in the Caribbean. For Caribbean recipes you have to Goggle "sorrel"
See my favourite drink here: http://www.trinigourmet.com/index.php/sorrel-drink/
The young leaves of the African/Caribbean variety can be tossed in salads, or sauteed in greens o added to soups.
I also use the calyx in fish dishes.
The calyces on the plant are very attractive. It is always great when a plant remains interesting after it has flowered. It is a bonus that you can make tea too.I never knew the main ingredient of one of my favoutite herbal teas before reading this. Unfortunately, I won't be able to grow and dry my own as the plant is not hardy in my zone.
Thanks for the informative post.
When I saw this I wondered if it was the the same kind of Hibiscus Tea that's frequently found in Austin markets and served in restaurants and at many meetings of the Divas of the Dirt.
One of your links confirms it - the package in my cabinet says Nile Valley Herbs, Inc, Hibiscus Mint, Rich in Vitamin C.
Your plant is so pretty - I've only seen the dried tea, not the plant. Will it be an annual for you?
Annie at the Transplantable Rose
Les: I was surprised to see this same Hibiscus at the Norfolk Botanic Garden, via your blog. Hope you have good luck growing it next year!
Nicole: Oh wow, I just looked at the TriniGourmet link and saw the picture of sorrel at the market. It would take a looooong time to pick that many. I'll have to try that recipe. Do you use the fresh calyx (not dried) when you cook fish?
Northern Shade: You might be able grow it as an annual. Even if it doesn't flower it makes an attractive shrubby plant. I had 2 plants in part shade and they were a bit leggy, but grew and flowered there.
Annie: This is a Diva beverage? Cool! One of our favorite Mexican restaurants has Jamaica-flavored soda pop from Mexico. I've never tried it, but I assume it's the same thing.
I don't think the plant is hardy here, but I cut open one of the seed pods today and there are many seeds in each pod. And there are many pods.
hello from Barbados,
well we use a lot of that plant we in the caribbean call it sorrel and is very popular around Christmas time . We make a drink called sorrel, we spice it up with some cinnamon and a tip of ginger and sweeten with cane sugar. We serve it chilled with ice. Be careful it can ferment and sometime blow the bottle. I also make a jam with it and tastes like cranberry it is delicious. It also make a beautiful Christmas plant in the garden for those who live in warm climates.
IslandGal246: Thanks for stopping by! I'll have to try making that - fermented (intentionally or unintentionally) hibiscus/sorrel sounds like it could be interesting ;-) My plants will only be a memory at Christmas - in 4 weeks or so everything will freeze here.
cool plant! looks sort of like my "Little Lucy" Okra!
Anon: I kept thinking of Okra while I was cutting up the calyces - family resemblance!
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Cool! I just got one of these. I'll be sure to save the seeds and plant a few more to get enough for tea.
Nancy: I'd think this plant would grow very well for you in Houston. I made a cup of tea out of the fresh calyces yesterday - just boiled about 4 of them (seeded) for 10 minutes in a cup of water. It was tasty that way as well as the dried version.
Thanks for the post! I tried making tea with the dried flowers of my plant but the tea wasn't red or that tasty. NOW I know what the problem is. It's kind of like rose hips. I'm in Hawaii and it grows very well here.
Tutu808: Glad you found this post! Does it flower year-round in Hawaii? I also made jam from the calyces and really liked it.
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