• Skip to main content
  • Skip to header right navigation
  • Skip to after header navigation
  • Skip to site footer
Devour.Asia

Devour.Asia

Connie Veneracion explores Asian food, history and culture

  • Tea
  • Kitchen Tales
    • Pantry Staples
    • Kitchen Tools
    • Cooking Techniques
    • Food Trivia
  • Food Tales
  • Travel Tales
  • Search
  • All Recipes
    • Chinese
    • Japanese
    • Korean
    • Taiwanese
    • Thai
    • Vietnamese
    • Asian Fusion
    • Instant Noodles (Ramen)
  • Tea
  • Kitchen Tales
    • Pantry Staples
    • Kitchen Tools
    • Cooking Techniques
    • Food Trivia
  • Food Tales
  • Travel Tales
  • Pop Tales
  • About
  • Privacy
  • All Recipes
  • Chinese
  • Japanese
  • Korean
  • Taiwanese
  • Thai
  • Vietnamese
  • Fusion
You are here: Home / Tea and Herbal Brews / Hibiscus (Roselle) Juice: Inspired by the Negros Museum Cafe

Hibiscus (Roselle) Juice: Inspired by the Negros Museum Cafe

Our first afternoon in Negros Occidental found us at the Negros Museum. The suffocating heat left us feeling dehydrated, our parched mouths and throats led us to the Museum Cafe (or did our host suggest that we go there? I can’t remember…) and we were introduced to a bright crimson drink that we never heard of before — hibiscus juice.

Hibiscus (Roselle) juice, inspired by the Negros Museum Cafe

Many of us know hibiscus as gumamela, some of us know that hibiscus is the national flower of Malaysia, most know that there are dozens of varieties of hibiscus… but the hibiscus from which the hibiscus juice of the Negros Museum Cafe is made is not the garden gumamela. The drink is made from Hibiscus sabdariffa which is also known as Roselle.

Dried hibiscus (Roselle) buds

“Many countries in the world have been cultivating roselle for many purposes such as food, fuel, fiber, lipids, and decoration, among many others. It is popularly used in making cooling beverages and wines, and in making delicious desserts such as jams, jellies, puddings, cakes, pies and others. When dried, it is processed into a nutritious tea. Its tender leaves and stalks can also be eaten as a vegetable in salads, or as seasoning for various delicacies. In the country, it was found to be used as a souring agent in dishes such as sinigang. The stems are seen as potential raw materials for charcoal making and as sources of bast jute-like fibers. Meanwhile, its seeds are rich in linoleic acid, a fatty acid essential for nutrition, and can be potential sources of vegetable oils.

“Many of its parts are also believed to be of medicinal value. In Guinea, its leaves are used as a diuretic and sedative, while the Angolans found it as a useful remedy for coughs. Its seeds are used for debility in Myanmar and as diuretic and laxative in Taiwan. In the Philippines, its bitter root is used as aperitif and tonic. Additionally, the flavonoids contained in roselle can be used to naturally color foods such as yoghurt and rums.

“Various studies in many parts of the world have also been conducted which are aimed at studying the plant’s biological activities. Results have showed promising outcomes such that roselle can provide protection from atherosclerosis, and are regarded to possess anticarcinogenic and high antioxidant properties.” [Source: September 2013 issue of the BAR (Bureau of Agricultural Research) Chronicle]

How to store dried hibiscus (Roselle) buds

Before leaving the Negros Museum Cafe, a friend and I each bought a pack of dried Hibiscus sabdariffa. A pack, according to the Museum Cafe people, can make as much as five liters of juice.

I opened the pack when I got home, took about eight pieces to make juice for Speedy and myself, and transferred the rest to an airtight jar.

How to make juice from dried hibiscus (Roselle) buds

Making hibiscus juice is very simple. Just boil, cool, add sugar, stir, add ice and enjoy.

But what does it taste like? Before adding sugar, the water in which the hibiscus has been boiled is slightly tangy. Like most citrus juices, really, except that the tanginess of hibiscus is milder. So, with the addition of sugar (you can even use honey or coco sugar or whatever sweetener you prefer), the tanginess finds balance in the sweetness and the result is an amazingly refreshing drink that is delicious as it is pretty.

Hibiscus (Roselle) Juice

Connie Veneracion
Hibiscus (Roselle) juice, inspired by the Negros Museum Cafe
Prep Time 1 min
Cook Time 10 mins
Total Time 11 mins
Course Drinks
Cuisine Filipino
Servings 2 tall glasses

Ingredients
  

  • 8 to 10 buds dried hibiscus
  • sugar to taste
  • ice

Instructions
 

  • Place the dried hibiscus in a pot. Add two cups of water. Bring to the boil. Lower the heat, cover and simmer for about 10 minutes.
  • Turn off the heat. Leave to cool and infuse for about 20 minutes.
  • Add sugar to taste.
  • Pour into glasses.
  • Add ice.
  • Serve.
Keyword Hibiscus (Roselle)
Looking for Filipino food?Visit CASA Veneracion for modern twists on favorite classics!

If you cooked this dish (or made this drink) and you want to share your masterpiece, please use your own photos and write the cooking steps in your own words.

Ice cold Hibiscus (Roselle) juice, inspired by the Negros Museum Cafe

Inside my Asian kitchen

Century egg

Century Eggs are Not 1,000 Years Old and They are Not Soaked in Horse Urine

Slow cooker

Tips and Tricks to Make Your Slow Cooker Churn Out the Tastiest Dishes

Reusable glass spice jar with airtight lid

How To Store Dried Herbs and Spices

Asian food tales

A bowl of japchae, Korean stor fried glass noodles

A Short History of Japchae

Nuts to go with the free flowing wine, Crowne Plaza Hotel, Kowloon

Hong Kong, Day 3: A Thai Lunch and Free Flowing Wine for Dinner

From Port Klang to Kuala Lumpur

Roast Duck, Pork Face and Tea at Kuala Lumpur’s Chinatown

Explore Asia

There are many legends about Mount Mayon and all of them are based on a tragic romance. They all agree too that the name “Mayon” came from “daragang magayon” or beautiful maiden.

The Legend of Mount Mayon

An eagle statue somewhere between Baguio and La Union

Between Baguio and Vigan, the McDonald’s Sign That Led to Nowhere

Backpack made of hemp

Hemp, Local Artisans and Thoughtful Consumerism

May 22, 2014 : Tea and Herbal Brews, Drinks
Previous Post: « Tupig, unwrapped Tupig: Grilled Rice and Coconut Cakes Wrapped in Banana Leaves
Next Post: Makopa (Mountain Apple) Salad With Herbed Hibiscus Vinaigrette Makopa (Mountain Apple) Salad With Herbed Hibiscus Vinaigrette »

Sidebar

Asian Pop Tales

Scene from "Vagabond" | Image credit: Netflix

“Vagabond” is not a Heavyweight Spy Story But It Pushes All the Right Buttons

Scene from “The Lunchbox” Image credit: Sony Pictures Classics

“The Lunchbox”: When a 100-year-old Lunch Delivery System Goes Wrong

Liu Yifei as Mulan | Image credit: Disney

Mulan

  • About
  • Privacy & Usage
  • Full Archive

Everything © Connie Veneracion. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.