Tag Archives: tea

Hibiscus mint tea

A friend recently asked me how I made this delicious iced hibiscus mint tea, and I rattled off some directions a little too quickly. 🙂 So here’s the actual recipe and instructions, through the magic of WordPress!

Iced Hibiscus Mint Tea

  • Servings: 32
  • Difficulty: easy
  • Print

Ingredients:

  • 1/2 cup dried hibiscus flowers
  • 1/2 cup dried peppermint
  • 1/2 cup white granulated sugar
  • 10+ cups of water
  • enough ice to fill half of a 2-gallon pitcher

Directions:

  1. Put the hibiscus and peppermint into a 4-cup glass measuring cup (or any microwavable container) with 4 cups of water and microwave on high for 6 minutes.
    Half a cup of each herb
    Half a cup of each herb
    Add 4 cups of water to this.
    Add 4 cups of water to this.
    Put it all in the microwave.
    Put it all in the microwave.
    Nuke it for 6 minutes
    Nuke it for 6 minutes
    Let it sit for 5m. It'll look very red.
    Let it sit for 5m. It’ll look very red.

     

  2. Allow to steep for 5 minutes.
  3. Fill a 2-gallon pitcher about half- to two-thirds-full with ice cubes.IMG_5932
  4. Strain the tea concentrate into the pitcher over the ice, using a fine mesh strainer. Discard the herbs.IMG_5934
  5. Add another 4 cups of water to the pitcher.
  6. In the same measuring cup, mix 1/2 cup of sugar and 2 cups of water and microwave on high for 3 minutes.
    Half a cup of sugar for 2 gallons isn't too bad, right?
    Half a cup of sugar for 2 gallons isn’t too bad, right?
    Undissolved.
    Undissolved.
    Three minutes on high!
    Three minutes on high!

     

  7. Stir until the sugar is all dissolved.

    Dissolved!
    Dissolved!
  8. Add the simple syrup to the pitcher and stir.IMG_5941
  9. Add cold water until the pitcher is full, if necessary.
  10. Enjoy a cool, refreshing glass of iced tea anytime! IMG_5951

What we’re drinking this summer

Refreshing lemon-mint water
Hibiscus-mint tea

I like to have cool drinks in the fridge during the summer to keep us all hydrated and, well, cool. Tom is crazy-fond of hibiscus-mint tea (lightly sweetened), and I’m enjoying keeping a pitcher filled with water in the fridge, with some lemon slices and a sprig of mint in it.

We started making hibiscus mint tea in Austin, where nearly every grocery store has bags of dried hibiscus flowers in the produce section. Here in Portland, Latino foods are not nearly as ubiquitous, so I ended up just ordering a pound each of bulk mint and hibiscus through Amazon. It comes from the same company that supplies nearly every bulk bin you’ve ever used, called Frontier. The price is right, and we’re enjoying our healthy, refreshing herbal iced tea quite a lot these days. Well, Baxter loves it along with the resident adults; Amelia’s sticking with milk or (unadulterated) water.

Do you have favorite summer drinks? What are they?