Pink Lady Herbal Tea

Happy Holiday to everyone reading this post, i was bored with the Christmas decorations so i decided to plant a beautiful plant this season. I planted Hibiscus flower; a unique showy flower, shaped like a musical horn or trumpet. Hibiscus flowers likes loose, rich, well drained soil and do not require too much water, the blooms will stay viable until its time has passed, with or without watering.

Hibiscus flowers last only one day, maybe a bit longer if kept in the fridge. It changes colors as it gracefully ages from season to season. So i call it my red lady flower and while cooking with this flower it occurred to me i hadn't told you about my favorite drink called Pink Lady herbal tea. 

  Pink Lady Herbal Tea by Nontoxic Lifestyle.org
You need a bag of dried red hibiscus flower. (you can buy it from a nutritional store--ask for sorrel herbal tea or raw dried sorrel leaves)
You need a big pot of water boiled hot
Some Zulka natural cane sugar

 Now begin making Pink lady Herbal tea by adding 3 handful of the dried flower into your boiling hot water, as the water turns reddish pink turn off the flame under the pot. let it sit closed in for 30minutes or more as long as you like. The longer the wait--the better the color and taste as it extracts. Then once it's cooled, you can add some natural cane sugar or honey to it to give it a sweet holiday taste.
Serve cold with ice. It has a ting taste so you can also add lemon and natural grain vodka to the sweetened pink lady if you like a little zest.
Tip: it's really an inexpensive way to make sweet red juice that is nutritious without having to buy cans and cans of juices filled with high corn syrups and all the other colors and preservatives.

In the Islands, this same flowers is called sorrel and it's used to make cocktail drink or to enhance non-alcoholic fruit drinks. You can also use this gorgeous flowers in your salads, in candies as an edible garnish. You can add these flowers to your okra soup to give a vibrant color like my mum does.
 It has a reputation for a cooling effect on the body. The Pharoahs used hibiscus tea, and today it's still common as a toast in Egyptian wedding. When you add pure orange juice to pure hibiscus flower tea, it will taste exactly like a fruit punch. It is well known in the tropical places all year round but especially during the holiday season.

 Health benefits of hibiscus flower
 Although the clinical proof to back up hibiscus health benefits isn't pronounced. Hibiscus flowers has been widely known by users to have anti-inflammatory properties. It lowers high blood pressure and improves cholesterol levels in diabetic patients. It has been found that hibiscus drink contains good amounts of vitamin C and flavonoids--antioxidants that is beneficial in inhibiting the growth of cancer cells. Pink lady herbal tea can help make your skin more beautiful.
I hope you enjoy the benefits of hibiscus flower this season. 






writer: 
Onyi is a freelance writer who specializes in nontoxic self improvement, green & Eco-friendly living, nontoxic lifestyle (preventing cancer, illness and toxicity) and everything related to organic, herbal living, natural pet care. Her work has been published by nontoxiclifestyle.org, Ezine.com, and other online and print publications.