Agua Fresca 19: Agua de Jamaica, The Basics
Agua de jamaica (pronounced ag-wah de ham-ay-ca) is perhaps the most adorable of all the agua frescas. It’s the dependabale agua you turn to when all else fails. It’s made from the dried flowers of the Hibiscus sabdariffa (and that’s not the hibiscus that grows in tropical gardens so if you live where ornamental hibiscus flourishes, don’t just go and pick the blossoms).
- the dried flowers keep for ages so they are always on hand in your pantry (about twice life size)
- they are cheap. Prices vary but let’s say US $5.00 a pound. 1/4 lb makes 4 liters or about a gallon of agua fresca for a little over a US dollar
- it’s easy to make. Just add the dried flowers to water, simmer for about 10 minutes and drain off the colored water. Add sugar to taste. Discard the flowers or keep them for other uses.
- if you don’t have much room in your fridge, you can make a concentrate and just add water as necessary
- the agua keeps for several days, even up to a week. Most fruit aguas, by contrast, are best drunk the same day
- it’s a mild diuretic and makes your weight drop in a very encouraging way if you are trying to lose weight
- it looks gorgeous
- it tastes wonderful whether without or with sugar
- the soaked and discarded flowers have lot of other uses
- and it has centuries of history behind it.
My children love agua de jamaica. I’ve never made it for them at home. We order it when we go to a Mexican restaurant. I’ll try making this at home soon. It so simple that I feel silly for depriving my kids of homemade agua de jamaica.
Yes, it really is simple. And if you make it as a concentrate, as we often do, it doesn’t take up much room in the fridge which is always a bit of the problem with the other agua frescas.
It looks beutiful!
I was suprised at the low price of the dried hibiscus flowers. The last two years a Greek artisan makes hibiscus spoonsweet and sells it for 14 Euros / 100 gr !!!!!
In the middle east, this drink is called ‘karkaday’. It is wonderful, and the best (in my tasting experience) comes from northern Sudan, possibly because of the growning conditions (heat, especially) which imparts the most wonderful taste.
But in Cairo, one of the favored streed food drinks is karkaiday. And the blosooms do last a very long time! I wish it were possible to grow the plant here in the tropics of centrial Africa!
Mariana, Even if jamaica is more expensive in Europe, I would say that this is a pretty high mark up.
Diana, It would be wonderful to do a comparative tasting. Much of Mexico’s supply now comes from China or so I understand. I guess it is a sub tropical plant. It was common in Hawaii which tried and failed to make it a commercial crop.
Yes – and to what extend taste differences are due to different strains of the plant or – dare i SAY – due to TERROIR!
I think most does come from China too but I have found 3 varieties in Mexican mercado: Sudan, Colima, and China.
Here’s my picture from Mercado Hidalgo;
http://flickr.com/photos/xtijuanax/2654012889/
Colima is the most expensive and the most flavorful coming from that state.
I am not sure if Sudan actually comes from Africa but a friend of mine who owns a barbacoa de borrego restaurant here in San Diego only buys the Sudan or Colima for his restaurants aguas. He tells me the Chinese hibscus has no flavor in comparison.
I ate at a vendor of a sobre rueda in Tijuana this past summer that left the leaves in the drink. They are actually tasty to eat because they are a little sweet.
Ive also seen this at my local whole foods: http://www.simplyoz.com/closeup.php?8931
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Hi,
I have been ordering a Jamaica concentrate from Melissa Guerra online – it is by a company from Mexico called Pulpas Diaz. It is unsweeted and makes great Agua de Jamaica. My concern is whether it would contain the same active ingredients that the actual jamaica flowers would have. I’d like to make sure I am getting the health benefits.
Any thoughts? It is virtually impossible to find jamaica where I am so I have to order online.
Thank you!
Hello Laurianne, I would love to be held to help you but I simply don’t know enough about Melissa’s concentrate to be able to give you a definitive answer. What I can say is that Melissa is a one off the most meticulous and careful people I know and that I am sure she would not sell a second-rate product knowingly. Why don’t you write to her directly?