Hibiscus

So, I hope I don’t get in trouble for adding my own tea. It’s much like Mountain Rose Herb’s Hibiscus High, but instead of orange peel and lemon balm, they use lemon peel and lemon grass. I don’t that makes too much of a difference based on how much hibiscus is in it, but I haven’t tried Hibiscus high, and I didn’t realize my tea was so similar until I received the catalog and after I ordered all of my herbs separately.

I have to say I have no idea what I’m doing when I mix tea. I don’t have any proper way of measuring it. My process is rather haphazard actually. First I take all the bags out of the closet. Then I realize I grabbed a different herb, usually lavender, and so I go back to the cabinet for the right thing, usually spearmint, dropping bags in the process. Then I usually add each item to my tea bag, varying the amount, but I usually leave hibiscus as the dominant ingredient.

I actually bought everything originally, because I had rose hips, but making tea with just rose hips left me with a sour and one-note brew.

Anyway, the predominant scent once mixed is of spearmint, followed by the fruity scent of the hibiscus that is almost but not very citrusy. The flavor of hibiscus is rather complex as is the scent, so it overpowers the other ingredients. Since I haven’t had the hibiscus by itself, I don’t think I could explain how the other ingredients assert themselves. I will try to add that later for a more complex description.

This tea is a bright red and very opaque. It almost looks like fruit punch and has a strong fruity flavor. Re-steeping results in a mild orange-red color with no flavor, so I wouldn’t say it’s worth keeping the bag for a second use.