jamaican me crazy!
Refreshing agua frescas, a combination of water and fruit, seeds, flowers, can do a great job in quenching your thirst and not letting into the juice addiction. Ok, maybe we’re the only ones with the juice addiction (we seriously try not to buy any, otherwise its gone within a day!). We recently went on a brief detox, eliminating sugar, dairy, gluten, caffeine which meant, no juice! No juice (to me, Caroline) means BORING water all the time, so I decided to replace my iced coffee/juice addiction with a light, detox-worthy drink, Jamaica (pronounced HA-my-kah), a hibiscus tea. I adapted a recipe from Heidi Swanson’s Super Natural Cooking by using agave nectar rather than sugar and diluting it a bit more.
First you boil water and add the hibiscus flowers to the pot to steep for about 10 minutes.
Strain, add sugar or agave, and you’re done!
Agua Fresca: Jamaica (adapted from Super Natural Cooking)
4 cups water
1/2 cup dried jamaica flowers
1/3 cup agave nectar
Another 4 1/2 cups of cold water
More agave to taste
This tea will stain anything it comes into contact with, so use a pot that you don’t mind being stained a bright magenta color or a stainless steel pot.
Bring the 4 cups of water to a boil. Remove water from heat and add the dried flowers and sugar. Place a lid over the pot and steep for 10 minutes, stirring once or twice.
Pour the infusion through a strainer into a pitcher or jug (this is usually where something gets stained). You are going to want to add about 4 1/2 more cups of cold water to the pitcher. Taste and adjust based on your personal preference.
Cool completely and serve with plenty of ice in glasses,
Serves 8-10.
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