Saturday, August 7, 2010

Pink Saturday - Sun Tea

Pink Saturday - Beverly at the blog "How Sweet the Sound" hosts Pink Saturday. Let the color pink inspire you!


One of my favorite things to drink on a hot summer day is iced tea. My family was from the South, so we grew up drinking iced tea sweetened with sugar, and flavored with a sprig of mint.

Nowadays you can buy bottled teas to drink cold, but when I was young, you had to make it yourself. The best and easiest way is to use the rays of the summer sun to steep it. Just put water and teabags - or even loose tea in an infuser ball - into a clear pitcher or jar of water, and put it in the sun.

Here our upper deck off the kitchen has a southwest exposure, taking full sun most of the day. Just steep it for a few hours and it's done.

There's more to tea than Lipton - the other day I found in my cupboard some hibiscus teabags.


I think I bought this tea in a Persian grocery on Westwood Boulevard here in Los Angeles. Hibiscus tea is made from the dried calyces of the hibiscus flower. In Latin America it's called flor de Jamaica, and is often used to make agua fresca, or sweetened, flavored water. In Egypt and the Middle East it's called Karkade. It is said that hibiscus tea was enjoyed by the pharoahs!

Well, the pharoahs would probably enjoy a cool glass on a hot summer day in Los Angeles. Hibiscus tea has a tart, astringent flavor. It contains anthocyanins, which is supposed to help relieve high blood pressure.


Pink tea for Pink Saturday! Enjoy a glass!

10 comments:

Laura Quaglia (Fun With This and That) said...

Nice pink I need some tea. HPS
Laura Q

Country Wings in Phoenix said...

Happy Pink Saturday Sweetie...
What a beautiful share today. I so love tea made from the sun. Living in Phoenix, we have sun practically every day, so I always have a pitcher brewing on the cool deck. I drink lots of tea.

Now I have never heard of the hibiscus tea and it sounds lovely. Being one of the people who takes 2 medications for high blood pressure I did not know this about hibiscus tea, so I am going to see what I can do to find some and give it a try. Always looking for something to help the health.

Thank you for sharing today sweet friend.

Have a beautiful Pink Saturday. Country hugs...Sherry

Elisa said...

G,
that is a very common drink here in Croatia! We drink it all the time. But I prefer the way you prepare it.
Happy Saturday to you.

Elisa

ifthethunderdontgetya™³²®© said...

I'm on my third try for high blood pressure medicine (Doc tried cheapos lisinopril, then lisinopril + HCTZ first...now it's on to Azor™).

Maybe I should try hibiscus tea instead.
~

CaShThoMa said...

mmmmm. sounds delicious right about now on this hot day in NYC.

Love the photo of the hibiscus flowers; they're so evanescent.

Cassie said...

I love that beautiful color of the Hibiscus tea. We have alot colors of the flower here in S. Florida, But the best one is the pink one. ;p

Jason, as himself said...

I love, love, love making sun tea.

Maggie said...

OOOOOOOOO I would love a cool glass of that please!

Happy PS!
Maggie @
"Do these shoes match this purse?"

Valrie said...

Yummy! I think I'll make it tomorrow!

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Sue said...

We make sun tea here often. I have to say that my favorite is still that good sweet tea when we are in the south!