Refreshing and energy boosting cold-brewed tea with fantastic health benefits and antioxidants.
Health benefits of both dried hibiscus and rose hip are absolutely incredible.
Let me start with rose hip. Having grown up in Russia I have always known about this amazing fruit. We normally hot brew rose hip tea or buy rose hip syrup and add it to our regular hot tea or hot water. We consume it to boost immune system and help fight colds.
Rose hip has a number of important vitamins, such as:
vitamin C (rose hip is a record breaker in terms of vitamin C content, it has more vitamin C than any citrus fruit!),
vitamin E
folic acid
Rose hip's anti-inflammatory properties help reduce inflammations caused by infections, for example urine infections. Finally, rose hip tea's acidity level (despite all this vitamin C content) is lower than, for example, black, green, mint or chamomile tea (see this link by Health Line), which I think is great to know if your stomach cannot handle too much acid.
Hibiscus only appeared on my radar when I read one of my favourite health books - "How not to Die" by Dr Michael Greger (he is also the man behind this immensely popular website https://nutritionfacts.org/). Hibiscus tea is ranked by Dr Greger as the number one drink, containing antioxidant properties, helping reduce high blood pressure, strengthen blood vessels and improve circulation. Now, it is important to know that unlike rose hip, hibiscus is quite acidic, so those with problems with high-acidic foods should consume hibiscus tea with caution.
In fact, this is exactly the reason why I brew hibiscus and rose hip iced tea together, the drink becomes quite mild, not sour at all, with fruity and slightly sweet taste. As for this deep magenta colour - who could blame me for having taken dozens of pictures of my glass of this freshly brewed iced tea? ;)
INGREDIENTS
1 small handful of dried hibiscus
1 small handful of dried rose hip
(you can buy both on eBay)
METHOD
Combine the ingredients with 800 ml water in a pitcher and let it brew in your fridge overnight, or for 12 hours. Add some ice before serving, and after consuming the tea, rinse your mouth with some water to prevent the natural acids from damaging your enamel.
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