Hibiscus In My Garden and Hibiscus Tea

Hibiscus is a beautiful flowering plants in many colors. They are in red, pink, yellow and white. This plant is not only for decorative purposes at home and in my garden, it has also medicinal purposes. Hibiscus is also called Gumamela in the Philippines. Hibiscus is native to many countries like Thailand, Indonesia, Mexico, China and of course in my home country Philippines.

I was planting hibiscus again in my garden as I have found a vacant place to plant them. I have planted 4 different colors of hibiscus cuttings in a hole. Dark red, red, pink and a mixture of pink and peach color. I wonder how they will look like in a few months from now when they bear flowers.

There are 4 hibiscus plants in my front yard and two of them are getting huge that they almost reach the electric wire. They have plenty of flowers, too. I have heard about hibiscus tea. In fact, I have seen hibiscus tea in some supermarkets and drugstores in Germany.

My sundried Hibiscus/Gumamela.

Thinking about it and feeling thirsty, I decided to make my own hibiscus tea for the first time in my life. Well before I did it, I researched about this plant and its health benefits. I have found out that drinking hibiscus tea  is good in lowering blood pressure, strengthening the immune system, lowering cholesterol, helps aid menstrual pains, satiates thirst and other some health benefits.

Decided to make my own hibiscus tea, I harvested the red and pink hibiscus flowers. Some of those flowers were closing their petals already as they have bloomed for that day. I decided to harvest them as well before they landed on the ground and dried them under the heat of the sun.

Fresh harvested Hibiscus

Red Hibiscus in a pot.

Red Hibiscus poured with boiling water.

How I made the hibiscus tea:

1. I have washed 6 red hibiscus flowers to get off the dust.
2. Put them on a kettle.
3. I boiled 1 liter of water in the water cooker.
4. Then added the boiling water in the kettle with hibiscus flowers.
5. I let the mixture stayed for 5 minutes.
6. Then drink a glas  of this warm tea with a bit of sugar and calamansi juice. 
7. I have put the remaining hibiscus tea in a thermos.
8. Don't wonder when the hibiscus flowers becomes violet when poured with boiling water. It will still turn red when added with lemon or calamansi juice.

Hibiscus / Gumamela tea.

Tips:

• You can put more hibiscus in a liter of boiling water if you want a stronger taste.
• You can put the hibiscus tea in the fridge when you want to drink it cold but wait until the tea has cooled off.
• You can add lemon or lime instead of calamansi juice. For every glas, at least half a teaspoon of this juice I mentioned.
• If you want it sweet, you can add sugar or honey.
• Only red and pink Hibiscus are good for making tea.

How did I like the selfmade hibiscus tea? Yummy😀 It has a tangy refreshing taste. I am drinking it every day now but only 2 mugs a day to boost my immune system. 

NOTE: If you are taking any medicine, please check with your doctor if you are allowed to drink Hibiscus tea. Hibiscus tea is dangerous for pregnant women. It can cause abortion.

Thanks for reading and have a great day.
 

Copyright 2016, All Rights Reserved by Thelma Aberts