Agua de Jamaica is my drink of choice with Mexican food. The taste varies a bit from taqueria to taqueria and restaurant to restaurant, usually based on the ratio of the Jamaica concentrate to water and the amount of sugar added. The recipe here is a rather strong concentration, but it can be diluted. It’s not too sweet, but it can be made sweeter if wanted. Sometimes the flavor is enhanced with cinnamon, ginger or lime juice, so if that’s your preference, feel free to experiment.
Hibiscus “Iced Tea” does not contain any actual tea leaves; it’s an herbal infusion brewed from dried hibiscus flowers, water, and a sweetener. It’s naturally caffeine-free.
Flor de Jamaica is available at Mexican markets and even some well stocked grocery stores. I buy mine in a hard clam shell box (as opposed to the spice packet pictured), so look around for it. You can also purchase it off of Amazon.
Agua de Jamaica
- 1.5 cups dried Hibiscus flowers
- 4 cups water
- 1/4 cup sugar (or more to taste)
- additional 4-6 cups water (for diluting)
Instructions
Add 1.5 cups of dried Hibiscus flowers to a saucepan and cover with 4 cups of cold water.
Bring to a boil and then remove from the heat.
Stir in the 1/4 cup sugar
Cover and let the whole thing steep in hot water until cool, about 30 minutes or so.
Strain the mixture and discard the flowers. You should have 4 cups of Agua de Jamaica concentrate.
Either refrigerate as is, or mix up a batch of Agua de Jamaica now.
Pour the 4 cups of concentrate into a 2-quart pitcher. Stir in 4 cups of cold water. Stir to combine. Taste, and then dilute further or add more sugar or add a dash or cinnamon, ginger, or a squirt or two of fresh lime juice. (I found the 1:1 concentration to be a bit strong, so I diluted it a bit more. I just kept tasting and adding water until it tasted good to me. I think I added about another 2 cups of water. You can do the same adjustments with sugar if you prefer sweeter tea.)
Serve over ice.
Notes
The concentrate can be kept in the refrigerator. Mix with a 1:1 or 1:1.5 water to concentrate ratio as desired for each serving.
This recipe is slightly adapted from the recipe website “Mexican Please”. The photo of the concentrate is from the same website. Cover photo is from “Simply Recipes”. I swear I am going to take pictures of all my Cinco de Mayo dishes this year!
