The Hibiscus flower is one tropical flower that I am familiar with as a Canadian. It's popular in the garden centers in summer.
I have always loved them and even though they do come in other colors my eye is always drawn to the red ones.
Here in Mexico it is call Jamaica (pronounced-Ha mike a ). There is a very popular cold drink made with it called Agua de Jamaica.
It is also used for tea all over. The flavor is a very tart lemony one and after boiling the liquid becomes a lovely deep red color.
There are several health benefits of consuming this drink some of which include lowering cholesterol, liver protector, and an anti-inflammatory among other things. There can also be side effects although I have never experienced any.
Most people will add sweetener to this but I personally think this will destroy it's health properties.
I used to work for a vegan food company that made hibiscus lemonade. It was very delicious. There was a lot of lemon juice added to it but there was also a lot of sugar. At their restaurant they offered it with vodka as a cocktail.
I love drinking a beverage from this plant, but really I get that much more pleasure from admiring it's beauty.
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