You’ll never guess the secret ingredient in this hibiscus tea recipe

Kia Damon is a self-taught chef and proud Floridian woman. She is the founder of the Kia Feeds The People program and co-founder of Auxilio, two non profit organizations dedicated to combating food apartheid. She has been named one of 16 Black Chefs Changing Food In America by The New York Times and Forbes 30 Under 30 in Food and Beverage for 2021.

I’m a huge tea drinker and my overflowing tea shelf can vouch for that. One of my favorite teas is hibiscus tea—the color is gorgeous and it’s delicious hot or iced. For this recipe, I use a mixture of whole hibiscus and butterfly pea flowers for digestive support, which I grind using a coffee grinder.

A good coffee grinder is great for those who don’t have room for a food processor, but want to make smaller batches of their own tea blends or dry rubs. This tea is perfect as an addition to breakfast or after dinner and the cinnamon and citrus aromatics will leave your kitchen smelling like fall.

Cooking this dish? We want to see! Tag @reviewed and @kiacooks on Instagram so we can share your masterpiece.

What You Need

Ingredients:

¼ cup dried butterfly pea flower ¼ cup dried hibiscus flower 2 cinnamon sticks 1 lemon 1 orange Honey, to taste

Tools

Coffee grinder, like one of Reviewed's favorites, the Krups Fast Touch Electric Coffee and Spice Grinder available at Walmart Medium pot Medium mesh strainer Heat-proof bowl Optional: Serving vessel, like the Bedside Carafe available at Coming Soon New York

Time Needed

10 minutes

Difficulty

Easy

Yield

3 to 4 servings

How To Make Butterfly Pea Flower Hibiscus Iced Tea

Step 1: Grind the flowers

Place the butterfly pea flower and hibiscus in the coffee grinder and pulse a few times until it’s roughly broken down. Be careful when opening the coffee grinder because the dust is likely to fly out and get into your nose and eyes. Will it smell good? Yes! Will it also send you into a sneezing fit? Also yes.

Step 2: Prepare your aromatics

Wash the orange and lemon with warm water and some vegetable cleaner, if you have it. With a peeler or a small, sharp knife, slice off two 1-inch pieces of the peel from each citrus fruit, making sure to avoid the pith. Save the orange for a snack and set the lemon aside for a future recipe.

Step 3: Brew the tea

Add 5 cups of water, the ground hibiscus and butterfly pea mixture, cinnamon sticks, and the citrus peels to a medium sized pot and bring to a boil. Once it comes to a boil, reduce to a simmer for four minutes. If you want a stronger flavor, steep for an additional three minutes.

Step 4: Chill and serve

Pour the tea into a mesh strainer over a heat-proof bowl. Discard the tea blend and cinnamon sticks. Sweeten with honey and fresh lemon juice to taste—the lemon juice will change the tea to a vibrant purple hue because of a chemical reaction with the butterfly pea flower. Chill in the refrigerator, then transfer to a serving vessel of your choice and enjoy.

This recipe is part of our Chef's Course newsletter series. Sign up to be the first to receive tips, tricks, and delicious recipes from top chefs sent straight to your inbox. It’s a whole master course for free.