Some Like It Hot!

I don't know about you, but it's been real hot in my neck of the woods! I mean seriously, oppressively, miserably hot. We are in our 8th week of temperatures hovering around the 100 degree Fahrenheit mark. Now, don't get me wrong...I'm actually a big fan of the heat. I love summer passionately...but, even I have my limits! It's just too darn hot! It's the kind of hot that doesn't cool down at night. It's the kind of hot that doesn't allow for sweet smelling summer breezes. It's the kind of hot that keeps the sweat dripping down the back of my neck. Yeah...that kind of hot!
My beverage of choice is water. Cold, cold water. I especially like "sparkling" water, you know, fizzy water. Not much refreshes me like an iced glass of fizzy water with a squeeze of fresh lime. But this brutal heat wave calls for some back ups. Something exotic to take the edge off.
A few years ago I happened to end up in tropical Mexico. Not a bad place to end up! When Hubs and I arrived at our destination we were welcomed with a lovely cold elixir. Iced hibiscus tea. It was tart and tangy and light. It was the most vivid shade of pinky red and made it loud and clear we were going to have a relaxing and refreshing vacation.
A few weeks ago my favorite little quirky cafe concocted a hibiscus tea limeade. Yup, you read that right! I enjoyed a tall glass with my lunch that day and was determined to whip up a batch for myself. I'm not exactly sure how they made their drink special but I'm very happy with what I came up with and it's very similar.
I started with a purchase of loose leaf quality hibiscus tea. I'm happy to make homemade lemonade from time to time, but limeade is a different animal. It takes a whole lotta limes to make limeade. So, I picked up a bottle of organic limeade and thought I'd give it a shot.

It's an interesting looking herbal tea. Large pieces of the dried flower and of course it has no caffeine. I used 4 tablespoons of loose leaf for my pot of tea. I have one of those handy little "Bodum" glass teapots. You know, the kind you load the middle up with loose leaf teas and then fill the pot up with just off the boil water. I let the hibiscus tea steep for about 8 minutes. Longer than I would for most other blends.

Steeping on the window seal. A really great shade of red! After the 8 minutes I poured it into a glass pitcher. It filled my pitcher 1/2 way and then I just filled the rest of the pitcher with the limeade. I liked the ratio of 1/2 and 1/2. It wasn't too sweet and the hibiscus was the dominant and delightful flavor. Of course you could experiment to your own preference.

I garnished with a bit of mint leaf and added a few fresh raspberries.

Isn't that gorgeous! Seriously...it completely lived up to my expectations. It is tart, tangy, crisp and delicious. Lovely to look at to boot! We have been drinking this stuff like crazy in this heat and enjoying every swig.

I was happy to learn of the heart healthy benefits of hibiscus tea as well. It just gets better and better! I think there will be a permanent spot on my shelf for a bag of healthy and healing hibiscus tea!

http://www.webmd.com/heart/news/20081110/hibiscus-tea-may-cut-blood-pressure