I love to indulge in a decadent organic Rosehip and Hibiscus Herbal Tea with honey, packed with vitamin C which is everything we are told to have when building strength and immunity and preventing allergies.
And to keep my iron in the normal range, I take a daily dose of Floradix or Floravital, which I noticed includes 135.0mg of Hibiscus sabdariffa (Red Sorrel) flower, a Hibiscus flower which is said to be rich in vitamin C to help in the absorption of iron.
And so my question became: can I drink HOME-GROWN hibiscus tea? I’m keen to find out if the varieties of hibiscus flower growing at the Brindabella Homestead are safe and tasty to drink.
In my way of thinking, making Hibiscus tea at home for fun should be as simple as plucking the flowers, gently removing the stamen, separating the petals, dehydrating, then adding to a saucepan of gently simmering water. I watched a few YouTube videos, read a few articles, decided that I was on the right path, and started testing for myself.
I got started making my own Hibiscus Tea at home by picking flowers from my garden, which matched the variety that are said to be a delicacy in Mexico in salads and a Youtube video of a woman making and drinking tea with exactly the same plant.
I was encouraged by my researching the kitchen to confirm that yes, hibiscus often appears in ingredient labels on food products. When I buy tea (or any other plant-based food), I have a good read of the ingredients each and every time – do you? Doing this imprints on my mind the plants that are edible and beneficial for immunity (or whatever else is marked on the packet). Hibiscus is often mentioned on raspberry style tea blends or other immunity-boosting tonics, drinks, vitamin blends, kombucha, and so on. So there I had it… a clue to go looking online to find out which species were edible and safe to eat, before rummaging in my garden to see if I had the safe and edible varieties to dehydrate and produce my own hom-made organic Hibiscus tea blend.
If you’re going to have a go at this, I recommend that you make sure to do your research on trusted websites, YouTube channels or books (I have a book shelf dedicated to edible plants and food based medicines, a handy resource in the kitchen) and understand safe doses – and only eat what you already know is good and safe for you from previous taste-testings or trusted lessons with a Food Scientist (which, by the way, I’m not).
After a day of fun in the kitchen, I decided these dehydrated hibiscus and dandelion flowers could make beautiful tea blends for months. They passed my preliminary small taste test, they felt beautiful to touch and handle while I warmed them in water and poured out tea, and were sweet and nurturing on the taste-buds. Little dehydrated hibiscus chips might also end up on my menu for the quasi-vegetarian homestead.
My favorite dehydrator can be purchased here.
This Christmas holidays, I’ve just loved playing around with dehydrating herbs picked fresh in the garden and an assortment of fresh fruits.
You can watch the Summer Holidays recap video and read the blog about it right here.
Joanna Becker is an Health and Insight Meditation Teacher, Angel Communicator and Medium-Author
Please visit this website to contact Joanna, or to read her Light Channel Blog, to book an Angel Reading, enrol in a course, buy a children’s book or listen to a meditation.
This post contains affiliate links.
1 thought on “Dehydrating petals for home-made Hibiscus Herbal Tea”