Hibiscus Cooler (Jamaica Drink)

Summer being here it is time for more cool drinks while you're hacking away at those summer projects. Everyone does Lemonade and Ice Tea (Boring!), so i decided to make the traditional mexican beverage of Jamaica, also marketed as Hibiscus Cooler.

This drink takes the sour flower of the hibiscus plant and makes a wonderful flavorful beverage with minimal ingredients.

For this you will need

5 cups of water
1/2 c. of dried hibiscus flowers, look in mexican food stores if you can't find them at your local store.
1/2 c. Agave Nectar or similar sweetener
1/2 Lemon

Take half of the amount of water you will be using put it in a tea kettle to boil. This should take about 5 minutes.

While waiting for your water to boil, take the other half of the water and put it in the pitcher that you want to be using for the tea. Add sweetener and lemon and stir around.

Once the water comes to boil you can put the flowers in a glass bowl and pour the hot water over them. Let them steep for a good 10 minutes until the water gets a dark red.

Next add ice to the sugar water to get it nice and cold.

Mix the tea you made with the flowers in to the sweet water, combining them. If the mixture is not cold enough add more ice.

At this point the drink is done. Feel free to put it in the fridge to cool some more or to save for later.

The hibiscus tea is very refreshing especially for those hot days and now you can make your own!