Rachel Ndubuisi

View Original

Recipe: "Lady In Red" Chilled Tea

Ladies and Gentlemen, I'd like to introduce you to Lady In Red.
Ingredients
1. 1 teaspoon of Earl Grey tea mix or 1 Earl Grey Teabag
2. 6 Hibiscus flowers
3. 1/2 tablespoon of raw honey
4. 2 cups of boiling hot water.

Directions
1. Place all ingredients into a small pot or mason jar.
2. Pour 2 cups of boiling hot water in the pot or jar.
3. Cover and allow the tea to steep and chill in the refrigerator for 1 hour.
4. Add ice and serve.
Optional: Tea leaves, flowers and petals can be strained. I personally like to leave them for aesthetic.

This is my personal tea recipe inspired by the rich color of hibiscus flowers, the smell of lavender and the floral enchantment of rose petals.
I recently purchased the "Lady Grey" tea blend from The Spice Professors. The Lady Grey is a mix of Black tea, bergamot oil, cornflower petals, lavender and rose petals. It's essentially an Earl Grey tea with rose petals and lavender mixed in.

I came across this brand while at a street fair in Manhattan and for about $10/tin, this tea is worth every penny. A very little amount goes a long, long way. Their tea is full of vibrancy, color and rich flavor. I may be on a quest to sample all of their flavors...I'll keep y'all updated if I do.

For my tea, I also used hibiscus flowers. These flowers are the bees-knees, guys. Mine are actually from Nigeria but they can be found from Jamaican and fellow Caribbean stores and it is known "sorrel". They can use be found in some Latin-american stores as well. They're used quite commonly in tropical countries for various drinks and concoctions. They emit a rich red color and also offer a very subtle tang to the drinks. Just don't use too many...they might have you rolling, rolling, rolling..they are known to cause intense relaxation and sleepiness in heavy doses.They can be bought on Amazon.

The final lovely ingredient is the raw honey. The honey used is Nigerian raw honey and as you can tell from the photo, it's rather thick. However, what I truly love about it is that it is not as sweet as the more refined honeys. I prefer this because I'm not a fan of sugary drinks and a half tablespoon is just enough for my tea. If you've got a sweet-tooth, I'd recommend two tablespoons or as much as you need to make your little heart happy. Raw honey can be bought on Amazon.

 

This brings an end to my tea recipe. I hope you've all are inspired and will be trying this iced tea recipe during these hot summer months. While this tea is delicious, it also has added benefits because every ingredient carries health benefits such as giving energy ( black tea), boosting the immune system(honey and bergamot oil), preventing inflammation and aiding in weight loss (hibiscus flowers).
So, drink up..it's good for you!
Til next time, loves.