Roselle Tea: Health benefits, refreshing ways to enjoy

MANILA, Philippines — The first time I got to taste Roselle Tea (it was in iced tea form) was in Thailand, while on a media familiarization trip.

It was a naturally red iced tea, a bit tart, a bit sweet because of the sweetener that was added to it.  It was good and I would have more if available. But I never saw or heard about Roselle Tea again. Until about a week ago when I saw one of the regular online sellers in our community post about it. Fresh Roselle Flowers were available for sale for P110 per kilo. I just had to order half a kilo. It was freshly picked from the farm when it arrived, and I made a good batch of tea, which I tried hot and then iced. Both good.

I got a big bunch, washed the flowers, picked out the buds in the middle, which were hard and dry, washed them again, and boiled them in a pot filled with water. The red-colored tea that came out was refreshing when taken hot. I poured Roselle Tea into a tall glass pitcher, waited until it was room temperature before refrigerating it, and then had it cold (with added ice after adding stevia sweetener into it) later.

Before enjoying it, I researched about Roselle Tea, as I always do when encountering something new, and found out the health benefits it offered.

While most of these studies involved hibiscus extract, which are concentrated, and not hibiscus tea, these already put a good light on hibiscus tea. Apart from these health benefits, Roselle tea, just like other herbal teas and infusions, refresh the body, keep temperature down, and keep the body properly hydrated — with positive energies to boot.