Ivory Coast

Ivory Coast

Today we travel to the Ivory Coast! Sorry, I don't know how to put my French accent marks in here to spell it as it should be. You'll have to follow the link for that. I found a really great recipe for hibiscus tea to represent this country. They value using local ingredients to make a really good cup of tea. How do I know it's a good cup of tea? Because I tried it. Unfortunately, my idea of local produce is a little different from theirs, but it still works even if you don't have hibiscus flowers, pineapples, and lime trees growing in your neighborhood.

I did get the sprigs of mint locally. My mint plant is still growing on my window sill. Since I've been keeping a mint plant, I've learned that they are really sticky. I've also learned how to get good flavor out of the mint leaves in tea since my first experiment with Moroccan Mint Tea. I didn't have my water hot enough that time. That won't be an issue today!
I started by boiling 500 ml of water (about 2 cups)
Then I added a tablespoon (4 grams) of hibiscus flowers and some sprigs of mint, and simmered. You can also add sugar at this point, if you want to. I set the timer for 10 minutes so that I knew they would simmer for somewhere between 10 and 15 minutes like the recipe said. The original recipe also said to throw in pieces of fresh pineapple with the hibiscus and mint, but I figured canned pineapple was already cooked once, I wasn't doing it a second time. If you do opt to cook your pineapple, after the tea is finished, strain it, and pick out the pineapple for our next step.

The pineapple gets pureed. I wasn't sure how much crushed pineapple would change after it was pureed, but I gave it a try.

It turns out that it does make a difference. Check out that lovely lemon color. I tried to get the bits of pineapple really small, but if you're really worried about choking, you could use pineapple juice instead. Then imagine how it would look if it was colored from being simmered with the hibiscus flowers.

The original instructions say to add the vanilla at the beginning of the simmering, but I added it after removing the tea from the heat. I decided to use a 1/2 teaspoon. Then the instructions say to serve with mint sprigs and lime.

I decided to assemble my drink by the cup rather than by the batch. I liked the layered look, so I took a shot.

Then gave it a stir, and a generous dribble of lime juice. Since I didn't heat up the pineapple, it cooled the drink off a bit, but it was really good. So good I had 2 cups, and put the rest in the fridge for later.

I think my tea hating sister might even like this one. It has a little bit of a dessert vibe to it without being over the top sweet (note, I didn't put any sugar in my version).