The Best Hibiscus Sweet Tea

Course: Drinks

Cuisine: American

Diet: Vegan, Vegetarian

Prep Time: 10

Cook Time: 5

Chill Time: 45

Total Time: 1

Servings: servings

Calories: 83kcal

Author: Jazzmine Woodard

Southern sweet tea brewed with hibiscus flowers for deep red color and tropical flavor

Print Recipe

Equipment

1 pitcher that holds at least 64 ounces
1 small saucepan
1 slotted spoon

Ingredients

8 cups water
¾ cup brown sugar
8 black tea bags preferably Luzianne or Lipton orange pekoe black tea
½ cup dried hibiscus
ice to serve
1 lemon sliced for garnish
8 mint sprigs for garnish

Instructions

Add four cups of water to saucepan over medium high heat and stir in brown sugar until dissolved.
Bring liquid to a boil then remove from heat and add black tea bags and dried hibiscus flowers to steep.
Remove tea bags after five minutes of steeping. Do not squeeze the tea bags, simply lift them out and discard.
Remove the hibiscus after another five minutes of steeping.
Add remaining four cups of water to a pitcher followed by the brewed sweetened tea, stir then place in the refrigerator to chill for at least 45 minutes.
Serve teas over ice with slices of lemon and sprigs of fresh mint.

Notes

Preparation

This recipe, as written, makes a moderately sweet tea. If you like a super sweet sweet tea, add 1 cup total of brown sugar or sweetener in step one.

You can make sweetened hibiscus tea up to three days ahead of time.

Variations

To make spiked hibiscus sweet tea, add one shot of alcohol per serving. Bourbon, tequila or rum will work well in this drink.

Troubleshooting

Why is my sweet tea bitter? Bitterness comes from too much of the tea's tannins being released while brewing. This can happen if you steep tea in actively boiling water (which is too hot), steep it for too long (no more than five minutes) or squeeze the teabags into the tea while removing them. Avoid these mistakes to prevent your tea from being bitter in the future. And to fix a batch of bitter tea in the present, add a sprinkle of baking soda or lemon juice to combat the tannin taste. Then add more sugar to taste to rebalance the tea.

Storage

Sweet tea should be refrigerated in an airtight container, if possible, and it will keep for up to five days this way.

To freeze, I recommend pouring the tea into ice cube molds for easy storage and quicker thawing. Frozen tea will keep for up to three months in the freezer.

Nutrition