For months a friend of mine had been extolling the virtues of a daily cup of hibiscus tea. He told me that drinking it regularly could lower one’s blood pressure and some studies have shown that consuming the tea could help fight cancer – in particular brain and skin cancer. I finally broke under the strain of his sales pitch and asked him where I could pick up some. Not long afterwards a big box arrived in the mail. He sent me three pounds – three pounds – of hibiscus tea. I had my work cut out for me.
Kel and I have a cup of hot hibiscus tea a few times a week and I also occasionally add it to our morning smoothies. The combination of hibiscus and cherry pleases me the most. Hibiscus straight up is quite tangy – like on the lemon juice side of tangy – but the cherries, dates and bananas tame the tart. And the color is lovely.
Now for a few disclaimers. Keep in mind a couple of things: if you already have low blood pressure (as I do), you may want to limit your intake of hibiscus tea. Also, this tea can lower estrogen levels – if you’re on hormone replacement therapy or are on birth control pills, this tea is not for you. If you are undergoing chemotherapy – check with your physician before making this tea a regular part of your day. Finally, some folks experience an extra special little buzz after consuming hibiscus tea. If you find yourself having an unusually deep and meaningful conversation with your houseplants, you might want to gift the remainder of the tea leaves to a friend.
There’s still plenty of voting days left in Ethical Ocean’s Eat What’s Good vegan recipe challenge – and my Mango Sticky Rice Cake needs help!!
Hibiscus-Cherry Cooler
- Prep Time: 10
- Total Time: 10
- Yield: 4 1x
Description
Frozen cherries and tart hibiscus tea team up w/ orange for this bright, refreshing and supe-rcharged smoothie.
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups hibiscus tea, chilled
- 2 oranges, peeled
- 1 lime, peeled
- 2 bananas
- 2–4 dates, chopped
- 2 cups frozen cherries (strawberries are mighty tasty, too)
- 1 tbsp. hemp protein powder, optional
Instructions
- Combine ingredients in a blender and process until smooth. Serve.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 4
- Calories: 265
- Sugar: 52
- Sodium: 9
- Fat: 1
- Saturated Fat: 0
- Unsaturated Fat: 0
- Trans Fat: 0
- Carbohydrates: 66
- Protein: 5
- Cholesterol: 0
Love the disclaimers!
🙂 – It’s like the drug ads you see in magazines – a photo of a happy, cured person followed by three pages of scary side effects.
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The colour is gorgeous, and it looks great in your glass cups. I’m a bit wary after reading the disclaimers but despite my blood pressure being on the low side I think I might be prepared to risk this… 🙂 I tried you vote for your mango cake again but it wouldn’t let me. Apparently it’s one person, one vote.
It has a very unique and I find pleasant taste and since I don’t drink it every day, I’m not too concerned. It sounds quite powerful, though, doesn’t it?
It is possible to vote every day but it’s on a very strict 24-hour cycle. Anyway – I appreciate the effort, Lorna!
That’s what I thought, that I could vote every day, but I must have been too keen and gone back too early. I’ll reign myself in for a bit and vote again later. I want yours to be no.1!
I’m afraid I’d have to engage in a little “voter fraud” to make it into the #1 spot 🙂 – but I HOPE I can stay in the top…five??
I have low blood pressure as well but its worth the risk to have a drink that’s my absolute favorite color..it looks Salmonie ? So vibrant and fresh. Did he ever tell you his source for it ?
The color is amazing – and the taste is quite unique and definitely worth the occasional sip. The brand on the packages is Starwest Botanicals and the flowers come from Egypt, apparently. It’s organic, too. My friend is quite the genius at sourcing interesting products :-).
Oh that looks luscious! Some of your warnings are totally cracking me up. I had no idea hibiscus could be so healing….and harmful! Haha!
Kinda scary, huh? I was all set to send some to my aunt (who is fighting lung cancer), but when I read the warnings I thought – no, better not.
Oh, this looks awesome! I love the idea of adding tea to a smoothie. I need to drink more tea… I always recommend it to my clients but never take the advice myself! 🙂
Haha! Do as I say… :-). I really like the flavor of the hibiscus tea, though for me it needs a bit o’ sweetness.
Keep reminding us Annie so we can vote every day ok? I tend to forget things like this 😉
I don’t want to annoy anyone!
You aren’t! We love to assist the gifted 😉 Just a little heads up won’t annoy anyone whatsoever Annie and when you think about how many annoying product placements are shoved into blog posts these days, a humble reminder about a most worthwhile entry into a fantastic site is refreshing to say the least 🙂
Awww, thank you, dear!
You are welcome Annie and cheers for not being “one of those” blogs that you can no longer find content in for the “freebies” and the product placement 🙂
And here I was hoping for a relaxing afternoon of communing with my pansies 😉 Hehe! Looks delicious!
In some cases, communing with house and garden plants is perfectly normal and expected!
Ooh ooh! I knew hibiscus tea was delicious, but I didn’t know it was also good for you! This is on my list, and I’m sending it to my friend Jeanee who lovveeesss hibiscus tea!
My friend told me that since he’s been having a daily cup that his blood pressure has gone down – he was in the high range. Cool, huh?
Very cool! I should pass that story on to my pops!
Man, I feel ripped off that I haven’t been more “ripped” off my hibiscus tea now 😉 What a lovely looking (and sounding!) smoothie – never thought to use hibiscus like this!
Hehe! Only a special few enjoy that experience, apparently!
This bevvie is gorgeous. Funny, I’ve heard that the health benefits are actually enhanced when one adds a splash of vodka to the mix…
…time to go test my theory.
This looks really yummy! I love hibiscus tea. Also, I nominated you for the Sisterhood of the World Bloggers Award! Thanks for the inspiring posts as always 🙂 http://thevegankat.com/2013/05/04/liebster-blog-and-sisterhood-of-the-world-bloggers-awards/
Thank you, Kathryn! I definitely consider you a blogging sister :-).
I love hibiscus tea too but can’t drink a lot because , just like you, for my lower bloodpressure! I love this tasty combo,…yummmm!
Yum, this looks so refreshing! Perfect summer treat!
If summer ever returns ;-)…
A little buzz? I drink lots of cold Hibiscus Tea with lime, stevia and chia seeds. I don’t find myself having a conversation with my house plants. However, maybe I just don’t remember…Hmm? 🙂 Love it!
Haha! Might be kind of fun to chat w/ plants, huh? Sounds like a delicious combination, by the way!
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