This delicious Roselle Delight beverage can be enjoyed chilled or served hot as tea.
It’s been a while since our last chat. Where has the time gone? I’ve been procrastinating on today’s post, so I just had to get off my tail and share something globally scrumptious with y’all today! We are Worldly Treat after all! We will be taking a trip to various parts of the world today right in our kitchen! I am sharing one of my favorite childhood drinks with you today; it’s the roselle drink or zobo as we call it back home.
Roselle is a type of Hibiscus sabdariffa plant well known to the natives of West Africa, India, and Southeast Asia. The leaves, seeds, and fruits are edible, nutritious, and packed with antioxidants. The petal of the plant can be used to make tea, syrups, jam, drinks, and lots more.
Growing up back home in Nigeria, Roselle’s drink was every kid’s favorite, at least it was for my siblings and me, and every other kid with a sweet tooth in the neighborhood! The hibiscus drink was called “Zobo.” As kids, we would compete for the most ruby-colored tongue, as the drink has a vibrant ruby hue. So you’ve got to let it sit on the tongue for a few minutes to win the game, this meant several cups of the zobo drink, and a massive sugar rush as most street hawkers add a ton of sugar in the drink to keep those sugar addicts coming for back for more.
I came across the dried hibiscus petals the other day while shopping at the Asian market. I was doing the happy dance in aisle 3 because I’ve been searching for the hibiscus leaf for the longest time with no luck. I couldn’t wait to get home to share my excitement and of course bring back that taste of home.
There are several names for hibiscus drinks throughout the world. In Senegal it’s called Bissap, Zobo or tsoborodo in Nigeria, agua de Jamaica in Mexico, karkadé in Egypt, Arhul ka Phil in India, Guamamela in the Philippines, Oseille in France, to name but a few.
This delicious beverage can be enjoyed chilled or served hot as tea. It has a piquant flavor; thus sweeteners like honey, syrup, or sugar can be used to sweeten the drink. Fresh fruits can also serve as a sweetener or flavor enhancer depending on preference.
HOW IT’S MADE:
The preparation for the Roselle drink is pretty basic and straightforward. Some people bring water to a boil, add the leaf, and steep for hours for complete infusion. Generally speaking, it is common to cook the leaf with spices such as ginger, cloves, cinnamon, mace (to name but a few) in the water and allow the flavors to infuse, this is how we make it back home.
Today, I will be using cinnamon, fresh ginger root, and mint leaves for an added kick. In the ingredients below, I left out the measurement for the sweetener on purpose, so feel free to sweeten it or not, it’s entirely optional.
Do you want something stronger solely for adults? Simply add some dark rum, vodka, or sparkling wine (Please drink responsibly!).
There you have it! Kick your feet up and enjoy a refreshing glass of roselle drink. Until next time, laterz!
Deets: You can get the dried roselle leaves at most local grocery stores or Amazon. See the direct link here!
I hope you’ll give this Roselle drink a try. If you are looking for something with more of a citrus burst, try this thirst quencher here and one of my favs here.
Share a glass with us on our social media if you make this cocktail using the hashtag worldlytreat(#worldlytreat), we’d love to join the soirée. Don’t forget to pin it for later.
Peace & Love
Maureen
Click here to PIN it for Later.
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ROSELLE DELIGHT DRINK
Ingredients
- 100g dried roselle petals
- 2 Medium fresh ginger roots, sliced
- 2 cinnamon sticks (optional)
- 1 cup of pineapple chunks
- 2 fresh mint sprigs (optional)
- 8 cups of water
- sweetener
Instructions
- Rinse the dried petals, and ginger under running water to remove any dirt.
- In a medium-size pot, bring all the ingredients mentioned above to the boil ( EXCEPT the sweetener), about 15 minutes until it’s fragrant. Remove from heat and allow to steep for an hour.
- Place a strainer or cheesecloth over a pitcher, pour the mixture over it. Add sweetener and chill completely or serve over ice or frozen fruits. Enjoy!
This looks delicious. I have never heard of this drink before. I wish I could sample it!
Thanks, Julie, I wish I could send you a chilled glass…I think the drink is more popular in the southern parts of the states.
I love this recipe. It sounds so light and fresh! Im definitely going to have to give it a try!
Please do, Paige, you’d love it. The best part is that you can build up flavor to your liken, no rules.
I would love to try it! It sounds really yummy and I love the dark red coloring!
it is so yummy, Diana. I’d love to see a picture when you do. Kindly use #worldlytreat on Instagram or Facebook to share your thoughts with us. Thanks
This drink looks so very interesting. I never would have thought to make something like this but would love to give it a try!
Becca, if you love cranberry or pomegranate juice, then you’d love this.
Wow, this sounds so yummy. I need to try this. I think my grandma made this once for a health drink since she’s obsessed with those and it was really good. Thank you!
It’s so refreshing, Lisa!
This looks so delicious. Thanks for sharing the recipe with us because its definitely one I would love to try out indeed!
this looks so delicious, I shall give this a try when I get the chance. thank you for sharing. I will bookmark this for the future.
Woah! I am from the Philippines and we have plenty of gumamela here but I didn’t know that it could be made into this. I guess it’s never too late to try. Thanks!
Hey Kevin, its good to know you have the hibiscus leaves in abundance. Now you can get to experiment the many possibilities with gumamela.:)
I don’t even know where I would get Roselle petals but this drink is so beautiful!
Britney, You can get it at most big chain grocery store, check the international aisle or from Amazon. Thanks for stopping by!
Wow! This one’s a winner.I just love everything about this!My boys would both probably DIG this!
Thanks, Preet. I am pretty sure they’ll be into it, it was every kiddos favorite growing up.
Such an interesting way to make a drink! I would love to try it – both to taste and to make on my own.
I will be making this for a company Christmas breakfast. I love the various spices you suggest. I bet cardamom would be good too.
So glad to hear that Angelie. Yes, Cardamon will do just fine. I hope you enjoy it.