Cold Brew Hibiscus Tea (Agua de Jamaica)

Tart, slightly sweet, and super refreshing, iced hibiscus tea is an excellent warm weather beverage. Easily customize agua de jamaica with additional spices, herbs, or flavors.

Like most kids growing up in Los Angeles, I tasted my first hibiscus tea (agua de jamaica) at a local taco spot. After one sip, I was hooked. What’s not to love about this sweet, tart, and refreshing beverage?

Typically teas are associated with flowery, herbal, or earthy notes.  Hibiscus tea is nothing like that.  Although this tea comes from the hibiscus flower, it’s quite tart and tastes very similar to cranberry juice.

Hibiscus is known in the Philippines as gumamela.  Gumamela tea is a popular drink known to be rich in antioxidants and vitamin C. It has also long been used as a natural dye.

What is hibiscus?

According to Forbes Health, hibiscus tea is said to have health benefits like lowering blood pressure and cholesterol.

Where to buy hibiscus tea?

I buy my dried hibiscus flowers in bulk at my favorite local Latin supermarket. You can find it in the spice section of most supermarkets, right next to the Mexican spice pouches.

Or, the coffee and tea aisle should have hibiscus sold in prepackaged tea bags. However, I highly recommended finding the large, whole flowers or loose leaf tea instead of the ground up tea.

How to Cold Brew Tea

1. Place a rounded half cup of dried hibiscus in a large pitcher. Add additional spices and herbs, as desired. Pour in 4 cups cold water.
2. Cover pitcher and let chill in the fridge overnight or up to 24 hours. (I wouldn’t recommend more than 24 hours because it may get too bitter.) When the tea is ready it will turn a beautiful deep dark red.
3. Strain tea. Discard dried hibiscus.
4. Sweeten tea as desired with simples syrup (agave or any other sweetener you prefer) and transfer to a large pitcher.  Store in the fridge until ready to serve.

Flavoring Options

While I love traditional hibiscus tea, I wanted to experiment with some spices and herbs.

I made a batch infused with cinnamon and another with fresh mint leaves.  You can also try steeping some fruits in the drink to make a non-alcoholic sangria like beverage.

Cold brew coffee (here’s my go-to cold brew coffee recipe) and cold brew tea are all the rage. For good reason because the drink is less bitter and more flavorful.

Cinnamon Variation

Adding cinnamon to hibiscus tea makes it tastes more like tamarind juice, which I like very much.

And if you want to intensify the cinnamon notes, cinnamon infused simple syrup will do the trick! This is perfect during the holiday season. The ruby red color is great for Halloween or Christmastime.

Mint Variation

And the winner of my tea experiments was the mint hibiscus tea! It was my hands down FAVORITE!

It’s tropical, mojito-like, and goes down so smooth. There are so many other infusions to try: ginger, allspice, orange peel, lavender, etc.

Serving Suggestions

Hibiscus tea is tart when unsweetened.  You can drink it plain to reap the benefits of the tea without any added calories.

Many people like to add a squeeze of lime to make it a bit more refreshing.  I like to sweeten my tea with a little simple syrup, but any sweetener works (honey, agave, etc).

Store leftover tea in a covered container in the fridge for up to a week.

It’s the perfect drink to cool my mouth after a big bite of chipotle braised pork taco covered in red sauce.

More Refreshing Beverages

• Mint Hibiscus Lemonade
• Cucumber Agua Fresca
• Passion Fruit Juice