Refreshing Hibiscus, Lemon, and Cloves Drink

A hibiscus lemon drink that is spiced with cloves, and naturally sweetened. This drink will awake your deep desires for living, and maybe fly! It’s armed with nutrients, vitamins, and antioxidants! It’s refined sugar free!

I know I tend to be personal in some posts, I love talking to you friends,  so this post is one of them! Let me tell you, I don’t drink alcohol, but these frizzy little drinks looks so fresh, interesting, festive, and tempting. And I’m not really bothered by the idea of opening up when you drink, and I couldn’t find a true evidence on that, on the contrary alcohol cause brain. and where there are some studies about it’s health benefits, it has many harmful effects, but I don’t drink for religious reasons.

However, this post is not about my beliefs, but how I’m intrigued by unusual pairings in cocktails. Strong flavors with syrups, herbs, spices, kinds of sugar and that’s what I like! So how to make virgin interesting drink?

Here is my idea for that, A hibiscus drink 

And while I started my post with alcohol note, actually I was preparing this post for Ramadan recipes! Yes, the holy month for Muslims. Because hibiscus is a traditional drink, but I don’t like to keep traditional recipes forever. I mean they are great, and I started an Arabic cuisine series –which very popular on the blog- to document my heritage, but I don’t always stick to traditional food. Because this feels little boring to me. It’s kind of being restricted to rules, which I truly hate.

But enough about me, let’s talk about our star for today,  

Hibiscus

A dried red pretty flowers, with crimson great color. And let me tell you a secret, I’ve never had a glass of hibiscus, but few sips! Because it tasted weird to me, and sugary! That was many moons ago, and I wanted to give it a try myself.

Why do you need to include hibiscus in your diet: 

There are so many claimed health benefits for hibiscus, however, few are truly proved. To mention a few:

• There are some human and animal studies shown that extract of hibiscus lower blood pressure, and lipid profile. It’s almost effective as Captropirl medicine. 
• It has anthocyanin, a flavonoid compound with antioxidant activity. There is an association between cardiovascular diseases protection and consuming anthocyanin-rich food.  
• It’s almost zero calorie on it own, has great amounts of vitamin C and good amount of vitamin A and vitamin B1 
• It works as diuretic, and helps with constipation too.

Cautions: 

• Don’t drink hibiscus in the first trimester of pregnancy, it lowers estrogen and prompt menstruation. and consult your doctor first , if you wish to drink it after 1st trimester. 
• It has many drug interactions, consult your doctor if you take any special drugs. And if you take ant-inflammatory drugs, wait at least two hours then sip your biscuits tea. 

Cloves

It’s a pungent spice of dried flower buds. I use clove pods every time I make a chicken stock, and I add the ground one to many dishes, including spice cake.  And I love that powdered form can sooth any gum problem, because it works like anesthetic, and stops the pain instantly! I will discus more health benefits in future recipes. But for today’s recipe, mixing it with hibiscus balances the sour taste, and add a depth to the flavor.

Lemon 

You might wonder why I did add lemon to a sour drink? I find lemon taste very unique, and it’s sour taste is different form hibiscus one. Combining together makes this drink very special. I love lemon because It makes everything fresh and more live, it loads your body with vitamin C that is vital component for body function, and it’s great for skin, and much more! I’ll talk more about it in the future recipes. 

Now let’s go to the recipe, and enjoy!

Yield: 2

Refreshing Hibiscus, Lemon, and Cloves Drink

Prep Time: 2 hours 5 minutes

Total Time: 2 hours 5 minutes

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Ingredients

• 1 cup dried hibiscus flowers
• 5 cloves pods
• 1 cup water
• 2 Tb fresh lemon juice
• 1 Tb honey
• Ice cubes
• Utnsils:
• A strainer

Instructions

1. Soak hibiscus flowers in one cup of water, add cloves and set aside.
2. Leave it soaked for 2 hours.
3. Put the strainer on top of large bowl, and pour the juice. Squeeze the flowers to get any juice left.
4. Pour juice in 2 small glasses, add 1/2 Tb oh honey to each of them, and 1 Tb freshly squeezed lemon juice for each of them. and add 3-4 small ice cubes.
5. Add some cloves pods, lemon wedges for garnishing and extra flavor.
6. Enjoy it cold!

Notes

If you have any leftovers, remove the cloves and the lemon wedges, and keep it for the rest of the day, it can stay longer, but the taste will be a little different.

This drink is strong, you can add more water, and ice cubes, and double the servings.

Two hours are inactive time, soak and forget it, clean up your fridge, kitchen , and then you can enjoy your drink and relax.