Have you ever tried homemade fermented hibiscus tea? This beautifully vibrant red fermented drink is slightly sour from the hibiscus flowers, fizzy and naturally packed with healthy probiotics due to the fermentation process. And with a little bit of naturally occurring alcohol (due to the fermentation process), have we made “adult Kool-Aid”? Ha!
What’s more – we’re excited to share with you three different recipes for our homemade fermented hibiscus tea!
- Simple Fermented Hibiscus Tea Recipe
- Berry Fermented Hibiscus Tea Recipe
- Mulled Fermented Hibiscus Tea Recipe
Check out the full video and subscribe to our YouTube channel. We appreciate your support!
How to Make Homemade Fermented Hibiscus Tea Using a Ginger Bug
To make fermented hibiscus tea, the first thing you’ll need is a ginger bug starter culture. Check out our previous video on how to make your own ginger bug starter culture from scratch. Once you have a ginger bug starter culture, you’ll be able to make this fermented hibiscus tea and all kinds of other probiotic-rich fermented drinks like fizzy fermented sodas!
In a nutshell, all you have to do to make this fermented hibiscus tea is to make some sweetened hibiscus tea, cool it to room temperature, and add your ginger bug starter culture which will begin the fermentation process. So simple!
Simple Fermented Hibiscus Tea Recipe
Makes 1 quart (~1 liter)
This simple fermented hibiscus tea is delicious, yet simple. With a slight sourness that you’d expect from (non-fermented) hibiscus tea and a light sweetness, there’s also a hint of yeasty flavor from the fermentation process. Makes sense as this fermented hibiscus tea is full of natural healthy probiotics. Use this drink as a mixer or enjoy on its own for a vitamin C boost (from the hibiscus flowers).
You’ll need some basic fermentation equipment (listed below) to make this simple fermented hibiscus tea, and as always you can find all of our favorite Fermentation Gear on our website.
Equipment:
- 1 quart jar
- Cloth to cover, fermentation lid, or combo pour spout lid with airlock & rubber stopper
Ingredients:
- 1 quart (~1 liter) non-chlorinated water
- 3 tablespoons (10 grams) hibiscus flowers, dried
- 1/4 cup (55 grams) sugar
- 1/4 cup (60 mL) Ginger Bug Starter Culture
Bring to boil 1 quart of non-chlorinated water in a pot.
Once boiling, turn off the heat and add the dried hibiscus flowers. Steep for 10 minutes.
Strain off the hibiscus flowers so that the liquid is in another vessel (such as another pot).
Add sugar and stir to dissolve.
Cool to room temperature which could take about an hour. The temperature should be under 85-ish degrees Fahrenheit. You can speed up the process by putting the pot in the fridge, or by boiling less water and adding some ice after it has finished steeping (as long as the ice is from non-chlorinated water).
Pour into quart size mason jar. Once you’re sure it’s cooled to room temperature, add ginger bug starter culture.
Cover the jar with a fermentation lid of your choice, and ferment at room temperature for 1-14 days, depending on preferred taste. The longer it ferments, the less sweet it will become and more alcohol it will contain. For this simple hibiscus fermented tea, we prefer the taste after 3 days of fermenting at 67F degrees. Keep in mind that if you are fermenting in a warmer environment, it will ferment more quickly. So if your fermentation environment is warmer, say greater than 70 degrees F, then it may be ready after 2 days.
Berry Hibiscus Fermented Tea Recipe
Makes 1 quart (~1 liter)
This berry hibiscus fermented tea adds a nice berry flavor to the simple hibiscus fermented tea. You can use any kind of berry, fresh or frozen, and we used a mix of organic frozen raspberries, blackberries and strawberries. This berry recipe is Sarah’s favorite fermented hibiscus tea, however keep in mind that the original berry flavor changes slightly during the fermentation process. You’ll just have to try it for yourself to see how you like the fermented berry taste!
You’ll need some basic fermentation equipment (listed below) to make this berry hibiscus fermented tea, and as always you can find all of our favorite Fermentation Gear on our website.
Equipment:
- 1 quart jar
- Cloth to cover, fermentation lid, or combo pour spout lid with airlock & rubber stopper
Ingredients:
- 1 quart (~1 liter) non-chlorinated water
- 3 tablespoons (10 grams) hibiscus flowers, dried
- 3/4 cup (90 grams) berries (we used a mix of organic frozen raspberries, blackberries and strawberries)
- 1/4 cup (55 grams) sugar
- 1/4 cup (60 mL) Ginger Bug Starter Culture
Bring to boil 1 quart of non-chlorinated water in a pot.
Once boiling, add the berries and allow to boil for 1 minute, even mashing some of the fruit to extract more of the flavors.
Then turn off the heat and add the dried hibiscus flowers. Steep for 10 minutes.
Strain off the pulp from the hibiscus flowers and other ingredients so that the liquid is in another vessel (such as another pot).
Add sugar and stir to dissolve.
Cool to room temperature which could take about an hour. The temperature should be under 85-ish degrees Fahrenheit. You can speed up the process by putting the pot in the fridge, or by boiling less water and adding some ice after it has finished steeping (as long as the ice is from non-chlorinated water).
Pour into quart size mason jar. Once you’re sure it’s cooled to room temperature, add ginger bug starter culture.
Cover the jar with a fermentation lid of your choice, and ferment at room temperature for 1-14 days, depending on preferred taste. The longer it ferments, the less sweet it will become and more alcohol it will contain. For this berry hibiscus fermented tea, we prefer the taste after 2 days of fermenting at 67F degrees. Keep in mind that if you are fermenting in a warmer environment, it will ferment more quickly.
Mulled Hibiscus Fermented Tea Recipe
Makes 1 quart (~1 liter)
This unique and delicious mulled hibiscus fermented tea adds tasty flavors such as citrus, spices and herbs, making a pleasant blend to enjoy. This mulled recipe is Paul’s favorite fermented hibiscus tea. We’d love to hear how you like it!
You’ll need some basic fermentation equipment (listed below) to make this mulled hibiscus fermented tea, and as always you can find all of our favorite Fermentation Gear on our website.
Equipment:
- 1 quart jar
- Cloth to cover, fermentation lid, or combo pour spout lid with airlock & rubber stopper
Ingredients:
- 1 quart (~1 liter) non-chlorinated water
- 3 tablespoons (10 grams) hibiscus flowers, dried
- 2 teaspoons orange zest (2 small oranges, we used mandarins)
- 2 teaspoons lime zest (1 lime)
- 10 leaves of fresh mint
- 1 cinnamon stick (⅛ teaspoon ground cinnamon)
- 5 whole cloves (pinch of ground cloves)
- 1/4 cup (55 grams) sugar
- 1/4 cup (60 mL) Ginger Bug Starter Culture
Bring to boil 1 quart of non-chlorinated water in a pot.
Once boiling, turn off the heat and add the dried hibiscus flowers, citrus zest, herbs and spices. Steep for 10 minutes.
Strain off the pulp of the hibiscus flowers and other ingredients so that the liquid is in another vessel (such as another pot).
Add sugar and stir to dissolve.
Cool to room temperature which could take about an hour. The temperature should be under 85-ish degrees Fahrenheit. You can speed up the process by putting the pot in the fridge, or by boiling less water and adding some ice after it has finished steeping (as long as the ice is from non-chlorinated water).
Pour into quart size mason jar. Once you’re sure it’s cooled to room temperature, add ginger bug starter culture.
Cover the jar with a fermentation lid of your choice, and ferment at room temperature for 1-14 days, depending on preferred taste. The longer it ferments, the less sweet it will become and more alcohol it will contain. For this mulled hibiscus fermented tea, we prefer the taste after 3 days of fermenting at 67F degrees. Keep in mind that if you are fermenting in a warmer environment, it will ferment more quickly.
Hibiscus Tea Primary Fermentation – What to Expect
You will likely start to see some small champagne-like bubbles within the first couple of days of fermenting your hibiscus teas. The hibiscus teas will likely be clear within the first 24 hours, and then will begin to appear a little more opaque in nature, where it is more difficult to see through the jar.
When we make these fermented hibiscus teas, we see very active bubbles within 48 hours of fermentation. It’s very exciting to see! Sometimes the bubbles are very difficult to see, so we recommend shining a flashlight (or the light on your phone) on the side or top of the jar to get a better look at the small, quick bubbles that will form.
At any time during fermentation, feel free to taste test your fermented tea to see if it’s ready, per your taste. If it’s not ready, just put the fermentation lid back on and continue fermenting.
Once you feel your fermented hibiscus tea is ready, you can swap out the fermentation lid for a regular lid and put the jar in the fridge. Just make sure to place the regular lid loosely on the jar so that any excess gases will be able to escape, since your fermented tea will continue to ferment very slowly while stored in the cooler temps.
Note – as with any sweet fermented drink, it’s possible you may get some kahm yeast, as we did on one of our batches of our berry hibiscus fermented tea. This will look like a thin, whitish film on the top of your ferment and will smell very yeast (bread-like). If it’s kahm yeast, it’s safe to simply scrape/scoop off the top layer and continue fermenting.
However if we see anything strange, especially anything fuzzy and colorful, it could be mold and we’ll throw the whole batch out and start over. Better to be on the safe side!
How Much Alcohol is in Fermented Hibiscus Tea?
Alcohol is a natural bi-product of the fermentation process, so we estimated the alcohol content in our fermented hibiscus teas using our alcohol hydrometer. Then using the formula to calculate how much alcohol is present, we found that these fermented teas have very little naturally occurring alcohol within the first few days. Below are the estimated amounts we measured after the 2-3 days of fermentation:
Simple Fermented Hibiscus Tea (3 days) – 1%
Berry Fermented Hibiscus Tea (2 days) – 1.3%
Mulled Fermented Hibiscus Tea (3 days) – 1.6%
It’s Easy to Make Fermented Hibiscus Tea!
Once you learn how to make this simple fermented hibiscus tea, you’ll be able to make all sorts of unique and delicious flavors of fermented hibiscus teas. Try experimenting with other flavors!
What’s your favorite flavored fermented hibiscus tea? We’d love to hear from you and to subscribe to our YouTube channel!
