HIBISCUS EXTRACT: INTRO
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The hibiscus plant is known globally today. One of the reasons for its fame is its hibiscus extract. This is often used for many purposes. From making a delicious hibiscus tea to food production, the hibiscus extract is widely craved and universally appreciated.
Are you looking to get a hibiscus extract? Then you are in the right place! Let’s learn all of the different and exciting applications for hibiscus extract and discover some easy ways for you to incorporate it into your diet!
Hibiscus Extract: Overview
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In this HTH article, we will be looking at hibiscus extract and tea in closer detail. First, we’ll learn some basic facts about the hibiscus extract. What is it? How is it made? How is it used? Where does it come from, and so on.
Then, we’ll learn some simple recipes to make hibiscus tea! We’ll recommend hibiscus extract products that will fit perfectly in your budget and will be even more perfect for your tastebuds!
To make things easier for you, we’ll also recommend some features that can make your purchase easier. You’ll know how to separate the top quality hibiscus extract from the rest of the pack!
Hibiscus Extract – Learning the Basics
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Did you know that hibiscus extract is directly involved in the making of many different kinds of hibiscus tea?
Did you know that hibiscus tea is known by different names in different regions? For example, hibiscus tea is often called Zobo in West Africa. It is also called hardy hibiscus, rose of Sharon and even rose mallow!
While the hibiscus plant is known around the globe (and is generally available for purchase around the globe as well), it is native to the Middle East and some parts of the American continent. However, the hibiscus plant can grow in temperate regions outside of these two regions.
Hibiscus tea is also known to have some good health and/or general well being benefits. Lower blood and sugar levels are just some of the conditions that hibiscus tea is alleged to improve or mitigate.
By the end of this post, we are certain that you’ll want to find the best hibiscus extract for yourself. To do this, certain features will need to be considered (I’ll explain this soon). These features are also important if you want to make great hibiscus tea. Find these features, and you’ll be satisfied with your purchase!
Speaking of the hibiscus tea, let’s look at some really easy to follow recipes for making one of, in our opinion, the most delicious types of herbal tea! Don’t worry, we keep this really simple – you won’t find complicated recipes or confusing listings of ingredients on any HTH post! We keep it simple, baby!!
Simple Recipes for Making Hibiscus Tea
Hibiscus tea can be made through its extracts. If you plan on using dried hibiscus leaves, then remember that it’s more likely to produce stains.
There are so many ways to make hibiscus tea. We’ll look at just two recipes, but you are welcome and encouraged to experiment and even seek out other ways to work with the delicious hibiscus plant!
Standard Hibiscus Tea
Easy List of Ingredients
- Hibiscus extract/ dried leaves (1-2 cups)
- Sweeteners (we prefer honey)
- Water (6-8 cups)
Easy to Follow Instructions
Step One. If you are using the leaves, then you have to sift through them. Make sure that the stems and other “left overs” are discarded properly – they have no business being in your tea! Place your dried leaves in water.
Remember to start this process a day before. The dried leaves have to sit in water for 1-2 days before you proceed. This helps “loosen” them up, which ultimately leads to a more satisfying taste!
If you are using hibiscus extracts, you should add it to your water instead of the leaves at this point. You can skip the next step.
Step Two. The next thing is to strain the leaves out using a sieve. You can also use a strainer. Once done, clean up the mess. Some HTH readers use the “leftovers” for compost, placing them in the soil of the gardens! A green solution!!
Step Three. The next step is to add sweeteners. Many recommend that you use sugar, although HTH is a fan on honey. Just make sure you are using a sustainably sourced honey and, if you have to use sugars, that you don’t use an artificial sugar!
Step Four. Heat up your tea using your gas stove or a microwave. Some people like to serve it chilled. The choice is yours. If you do heat it, you’ll want to be very careful when working with the hot fluid – don’t bury yourself!
Hibiscus tea can last up to 5 days when stored in the refrigerator. To increase the flavor of the tea, you can add grated orange or lemon wedges to your tea. We’ve recently experimented with adding apple and mango slice as well – the room for creativity is endless!
Hibiscus Tea (The Mexican Version)
The Mexican version is also called Agua de Jamaica. We’ve noticed that this is an especially popular beverage in resorts. When you drink it, you can almost hear the steel drums playing in the background – almost taste the salt from the ocean in the sea breeze!
Easy List of Ingredients
- Hibiscus Petals (1 cup) (the more petals, the more flavor)
- Water (2 cups)
- Sweeteners (honey works best)
- 1 liter of cold water
- Crushed Ice (you can also use blended ice)
Easy to Follow Instructions
Step One. Boil the hibiscus petals. You can do this on a stove. Add two cups of water to it and heat it up. We recommend that you allow it to boil for at least 15 minutes. The more you boil, the more flavor that you release!
Step Two. Using a separate container, mix the one liter of cool water with sugar (or honey). Mix until it has properly dissolved. This can take a bit longer with honey, and you’ll need to rapidly stir to get the honey to disperse evenly in the liquid.
Step Three. Remove the fluid from the stove. Leave it to cool for about 30 minutes. Be careful to wear protective gear when handling the hot fluid!
Step Four. Once it has cooled, separate the leaves from the water using a strainer. Again, you can compost the leaves in your garden!
Step Five. Take the tea and mix it with the contents that contain the cool water and sugar (or honey). Stir rapidly to agitate the contents and evenly disburse the sweeteners.
Step Six. If you need to have ice, this is the time to add some. Your tea is ready to be served!
There are a lot of reasons to drink hibiscus tea. It is very nutritious. It provides about 11mg of calcium and 21mg of Sodium. Other nutrients include carbohydrates as well as Iron. While its not totally “guilt free”, its certainly far heather than a can of sugary soda! Gross!! Do be aware that there are some reports of hibiscus tea side effects!
Side Note: If you liked these recipes, check out our recipe for the Best Spearmint Tea or a fun Anise Seed Tea Recipe! If you are feeling really adventurous, you could try a dandelion tea with roast dandelion roots (just make sure you get the best dandelion roots – as they can be tricky)!
Now that we have learned a couple of the easy recipes for hibiscus tea, let’s move to the next step – determining what features are most important to find in any hibiscus extract that you are interested in purchasing for yourself!
Hibiscus Extract – Important Features
To get the right hibiscus extract, there are certain factors you have to consider. If you find a hibiscus extract with each of these features, you will be happy with your purchase. If certain of them are missing, you’d be better off continuing your search for a different hibiscus extract product!
Price
The price of the hibiscus extract is important. While it is true that superior products often differentiate themselves by their price, balance is needed. You don’t have to break the bank to get a top notch hibiscus extract!
Price becomes even more important when you are on a budget. Try to go for a hibiscus extract that saves you money while giving you value.
We recommend looking at the features and comparing them with the final prices. You’d be surprised how often a less expensive hibiscus extract actually scores higher in terms of quality and quantity than does its more expensive competitor!
Health and Wellness
Ayurvedic practices have been around since dang near the beginning of time! These practices are often used to promote mental wellness and general good health – and they usually include some type of “whole body” care – sometimes associated with “eastern” medicine! The hibiscus flowers were often used to promote ayurvedic practices, that is why you see them available for purchase in so many regions of the world – extreme popularity!
Good hibiscus extracts are usually produced to promote the same goals of these practices. We recommend that you look for these features. Look for a product that is cultivated with the same care as the care that you direct towards your body. When the body and the food are aligned, the spirit is happy!
Free from Additives
Most people often add additives to organic products. Additives are meant to preserve the product for long periods – but we don’t always want to put them into our bodies! They can result in low nutritional value! An example of additives is alcohol – but there are many others, of course!
One good sign that the product is clean from additives will be its certification. Non-GMO as well as USDA organic certification are signs of adherence! It is not easy to obtain certifications from these types of entities – they don’t just hand them out! There is an evaluation process!
We recommend you avoid all forms of hibiscus extracts that come with such additives! Better to leave the extract just as Mother Nature intended – additive free!
Other features are also worth looking at. Keep a keen eye on the product description to get the real sense of what you are buying. You’d be amazed how many times something labeled as a “hibiscus extract” is actually just a different product with a tiny bit of hibiscus extract in it. Be smart – read your labels!!
Hibiscus Extract: Buy the Best!
To further help you with your search for the right hibiscus extracts, we’ve provided two products. By no means are they the ONLY good hibiscus extracts on the market, but we are comfortable suggesting them to you as they are certainly “top notch”. Feel free to look into one of these and “skip” all of the research in terms of evaluating the Important Features from above!
Made without any additives, this hibiscus extract is made free from any alcohol or caffeine – remember, like you learned above, additive free is the way to be! It comes in capsule form and is a great alternative to drinking the tea every day. However, it’s also can be used to brew your favorite tea – after all, this is an herbal tea forum!
There are many impressive things about this particular offering. The manufacturer aims to promote ayurvedic practices – the same ones that you learned about above! Hence, health and wellness are at the heart of this hibiscus extract – just as they should be at the center of each of our lives.
The icing of the cake is the price. It’s really affordable It comes in 120 counts. This means it will surely last for a while. Of course, this all depends on your rate of consumption and how “strong” you make your hibiscus extract products – align your purchase with your consumption rate!
My Experience
I found these capsules really good. I think it helped me stabilize my blood pressure, though I admittedly have made a number of other dietary and exercise changes as of recent. If there’s something that stands out, however, it is my perception of its effectiveness when it comes to reducing health or general well being issues. If nothing else, I did feel a sense of soothing!
I also found it easy to make hibiscus tea with the capsules. Finally, something that is affordable, relatively guilt free, makes me feel good, and doesn’t require me to spend a fortune! I’ve outlined some pros and cons I noted while using this extract. Hopefully it helps you in terms of making a quick evaluation for yourself!
Pros
- It is non-GMO verified
- Affordability (yay!)
- It seems like it has helped with high blood pressure
- Absence of additives (just like Mother Nature intended)
Cons
- It might cause issues if taken by pregnant women. It is best to consult a doctor before consumption. Pleas, always, always be sure to check with your medical provider prior to consuming!
This product has so many benefits! First, it comes with no additives whatsoever. Mother Nature for the win!! You can consume this extract without too much fear of taking in alcohol or other deleterious substances!
It uses a tincture bottle. This makes it easy to measure. You don’t have to pour the extract into a separate measuring container, therefore dirtying yet another dish, to be sure of the amount you are working with!
This product was made from organic farms. This means that it is non-GMO as well as USDA certified. It’s the perfect product for making hibiscus tea. Try to stick with GMO and USDA when possible – we consume enough food and beverage products that don’t fit in this category!
Another impressive feature is the perceived health and/or wellbeing benefits. There are many reports that its consumption aides in reducing the blood sugar level of users. Many also report that it helps with migraines and bloating problems. I drank some hibiscus tea during a recent headache, and it did seem to help, though I’m not sure if that was the tea or just the increased fluid intake – either way, the headache was improved!
My Experience
For a tincture bottle, it had a great taste, and was also very easy to use. Its taste made it very easy to consume. Apart from its taste, it also seems to have some really good health or at least well-being benefits.
After consuming it regularly for some weeks (which I typically did via brewing an herbal tea), I found I had a lower blood sugar levels. Again, I was also in the midst of making several life style changes at the time, so I can’t tell you with 100% certainty why the blood sugar stabilized. I recommend you buy this hibiscus extract for a number of reasons – it truly is a top notch offering. Here are some of the pros and cons you can expect from this particular extract:
Pros
- Non-GMO certified
- Alcohol-free (the way to be!)
- Seems to reduce blood sugar level
- Tincture bottle makes it easy to measure (know exactly how much you are using)
- It lasts longer
Cons
- It’s a bit expensive (but does last a long time and “keeps” well)
Conclusion
Here you have it! Buying the right hibiscus extract isn’t so hard after all, right?! You also get tasty hibiscus tea. While the pros of getting one outweighs the cons, caution is needed in order not to waste both time and resources.
So make sure you consider the features in this article before you make a purchase. We’re confident it’ll have a happy ending! You could also just go with one of our suggestions if you want to skip the whole “research” part – but there is truly no downside to becoming a more knowledgeable purchaser and consumer!
Comments
Had you ever heard of Hibiscus Extract before reading this article? Did you know that it could be used in so many different ways? Did you get a chance to try one of our recipes? What did you think? Perhaps you added your own special twist? Post below and let us know how it went! We read and reply to every comment and love interacting with the herbal tea community!