Prepare Hibiscus Tea at Home

Everyone has heard of Hibiscus Tea, whether or not they are a tea drinker. It is the latest addition to every health freak's diet. From weight loss to blood pressure control, this super food claims to do it all.
Made with the beautiful hibiscus flower petals, hibiscus tea is a herbal infusion, wonderful to drink during a hot summer afternoon. It can be prepared either hot or iced, a delightfully red colored drink to fulfill your soul.
It is quite a strong tea and not many leaves are required to prepare it. Only about 3-4 teaspoons of dry or 6-7 teaspoons of fresh hibiscus petals are needed to make a liter of tea.
To make the tea, boil around 200 ml of water and add half a teaspoon of dried petals or one teaspoon of fresh petals. Let the tea brew for around five minutes before serving. Add sugar or honey to your taste and enjoy immediately. If you want to drink an iced hibiscus tea, simply steep the tea with double the quantity of petals as when making hot tea. Add honey or sugar to the brew. Top a tall glass with ice and pour over the brew into the glass.
When preparing for a large group, steep the petals in a teapot. As it is herbal, you can just leave the leaves in the pot. It will not grow bitter, just slightly stronger in strength.
When you prepare hibiscus tea using the fresh petals of the hibiscus flower, be sure that the flowers are pesticide free and are also not sprayed with any sort of insecticide. It is best to use home grown flowers for such a brew, as you can be sure what has gone into its growing.
Hibiscus tea is made from less oxidized leaves and is one of the less processed types of tea and therefore contains one of the most antioxidants and beneficial polyphenols.
It's a very smooth tea that is more thirst-quenching than some other fruity teas. Some people say it is tart, like cranberry tea, but it has a softness about it that is more fruity than tart.
Hibiscus tea, like most tea, is good for you. It is said to be good to lower blood pressure, lower cholesterol and to strengthen the immune system.
The hibiscus plant is indigenous to North America and grows almost everywhere from Southern Canada right down to Mexico. The flowers are gorgeous, similar to mallow flowers. They can grow to be very big and beautiful.

Tea vs Coffee: The Health Debate

Most start their day with a hearty cup of coffee while some cannot do without their cup of tea. Coffee to most is like a drug that jolts them out if their sleep, drives away fatigue, and gives an energy boost. Coffee can cause a person to be addicted due to its high caffeine content, while tea can provide the needful caffeine fix without the jitters.


Tea is the most consumed beverage in the world. It even tops beer in terms of popularity. Coffee too is hugely popular. Both drinks, however, have been around for a long time. Tea was discovered by the Emperor of China in 2737 BC. According to legend, the emperor was drinking a cup of boiling water when leaves from a nearby plant flew into the cup releasing a beautiful colour and aroma. Intrigued, the emperor took a sip and was pleasantly surprised by its flavour. Tea then became popular among scholars and priests in China and Japan, who drank tea to stay awake, study, and meditate. This is perhaps why the hot drink has always been associated with mindfulness, calm, spirituality, and solid health.


Coffee, however, did not appear until much later. It is generally believed to have been discovered by a goatherd Kaldi in the Ethiopian highlands. Kaldi noticed that his goats became hyperactive after eating berries from a certain tree. This was the coffee plant. Coffee then spread to monks at monasteries, where they drank the beverage to keep them alert while praying. From there, it began making its way across the Arabian Peninsula. Both coffee and tea remained Eastern beverages for a long time; coffee didn't even arrive in Europe until the 17th century.



A lot of research has been conducted on the benefits of both tea and coffee. Researchers have focused on specific potential benefits of coffee, with some studies finding that coffee might have the ability to reduce the incidence of dementia or Alzheimer's or even Type Two diabetes. Coffee has higher caffeine content than tea, meaning its levels of the stimulant might help people with asthma by relaxing the lung's airways. Caffeine also helps in constricting blood vessels in the brain and reducing migraines. A Harvard School of Public Health research suggested that while coffee does not harm the body in any way, it did not provide any long term health benefits either.



Tea, on the other hand, is filled with antioxidants and potential cancer-fighting properties. According to the National Cancer Institute at the NIH, tea contains polyphenol compounds, which are antioxidants that might aid in cancer prevention. Some studies, however, suggest otherwise. Hence, while concluding evidence is not present in this matter, tea is still considered to be a medicinal beverage with therapeutic properties. All types of tea are made from the leaves of the plant Camellia sinensis, which wilt and oxidize after harvesting; oxidation results in the breaking down of chemicals. The amount of oxidation that occurs in the leaves is what defines different types of teas, from black tea to white tea, and of course green tea. Polyphenols in particular are a group of plant chemicals that are believed to be involved in health benefits — especially in green tea. Teas with the highest levels of polyphenols are usually brewed hot teas rather than cold (and sugary) bottled teas. Polyphenols in green tea, and theaflavins and thearubigins in black tea, contain free radicals that might protect cells from DNA damage.

Many Health Benefits of Hibiscus Tea

The hibiscus is a beautiful flower that looks very beautiful with its variety of colors. The red variety of this flower is specifically unique and is known to have several useful properties that can help the human body. Hibiscus Tea in Kolkata is very famous for its rich taste and invigorating properties. Hibiscus is rich in antioxidant; it has the capability to perform medical miracles. The tea originally is a tisane from the plant which s made from the dry calyces of the hibiscus flowers. You can drink the tea anytime and in any way. Like Peppermint tea in Kolkata, this tea is quite a hit among tea lovers and a great choice for them. Nevertheless, if you plan to drink this tea primarily as a medicine it is necessary to consult your physician before you do it.

The hibiscus plant is a shrub. It has flowers of red, white and yellow colors. The yellow hibiscus has medicinal property and is used as the tea. Many people often get confused on the flower taken to produce this tea. As the liquid derived is red in color, the red hibiscus flower is often considered as the main tea-producing agent. The entire Hibiscus sabdariffa is used for medicinal purpose. The yellow hibiscus flower found mainly in Africa has a calyx that is red in color. This calyx is used to make the tea. This is how the tea gets its red appearance.

Hibiscus tea has great capability to control blood pressure. Everybody knows that blood pressure is the cause for several diseases. Among many such diseases heart problem, strokes, cardiovascular diseases are common. Due to the stressful lifestyle that people have these days and extreme working conditions people develop heart disease or blood pressure. Drinking a cup of this wonderful beverage regularly can assist in reducing the high blood pressure level. Over time, different research has been conducted to test the validity of the tea. The results proved to be accurate. People with high BP and prone to diabetes or heart disease showed improvement.

Hibiscus flower is also known to contain high levels of antioxidants. Everybody knows that antioxidants are good for the health. They are beneficial for the human body and its diet. The amount of antioxidant present in this tea aids in the destruction of free radicals that damage the cells present in the skin and the body. The flower also protects us against chronic disease, cancer, diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis and heart diseases. This Hibiscus Tea in Kolkata also has the capability reverse the inflammatory process of the body.

Scientific studies have revealed that the regular consumption of the hibiscus flower tea is good for increasing the level of good cholesterol (HDL) while reducing the level of bad cholesterol (LDL) in the body. The beverage helps to decrease triglycerides. If you want to enjoy some good quality hibiscus or Peppermint tea in Kolkata, The Tea Trove is the right place to be. They offer a great variety of exotic teas to suit your taste.

History Of Green Tea

Green Tea is more or less same as the Turkish coffee. In fact Green Tea was known as Turkish coffee in Greece until Turkey invaded Cyprus in 1974. At this point of time, due to some political reasons, the Greek people planned to name it as Green Tea. However, the preparation process of both is identical.

In order to make the thick Green Tea, you will have to roast the coffee beans and make a fine powder out of it. You can then mix the coffee, water and sugar in a special tiny aluminum or copper pot which is commonly known as briki and prepare the coffee in a low heat. It is specific of the Green Tea that you will have to add the sugar at the initial stage of brewing it. There are mainly four ways of brewing Green Tea:

Sketos – This type of the coffee has zero added sugar and is drunk raw. While preparing this you will not have add anything before the preparation you can simple add water and coffee or milk and coffee and brew it in the low heat. Since, Green Tea is stronger than any other coffee in the world it is always better to add a little sugar otherwise that taste is absolutely bitter.

• Meoligi – This type has very little sugar added to it, say about half a teaspoon.
• Metrios – This type has an equal amount of coffee and sugar. So if you are brewing the coffee with 2 teaspoon of coffee then the sugar amount should also be the same.
• Glykos – The measurement of sugar in this coffee is more than the amount of coffee used to brew the coffee.
• Glykys – This is a specific variation in the Green Tea because this type is deliberately boiled more than once and later mixed with foam. This kills the bitter taste of the coffee and adds the soothing and smooth taste of the milk, sugar and foam to the coffee.

Unlike other parts of the world, people in Greece prefer to drink coffee neat without adding any spices to it. Drinking coffee is Athenians' favorite pass time. Traditional Green Tea is still served in most Green Tea. Nine out of ten bars and cafes serve excellent coffee in Greece. Compromising on the taste, coffee brewing is now-a-days mainly done by the machines, but the real taste of coffee is never better than freshly baked coffee beans that have been boiled with milk, water and sugar.

The tradition of brewing coffee in Greece was taken aback with a new form of coffee; Frappe, a chilly concoction which took Greece by storm in between late 60s and 70s. It was very easy to make Frappe; you just have to mix all the ingredients, shake it and finally serving it with ice. As Greek people love to experiment with coffee they loved the new form of icy chilled coffee that was coined against their tradition.

It is no wonder that the Greek market has broken all possible rules to give space to the new and modernized form of coffees. If you planning to take a trip to Greece then make it a point that you do go to a Green Tea to especially taste their traditional Green Tea of Greece.

Authors Bio: Rickey is regularly writes on Various blogs on several topics, like in this article, he tries to elaborate something about Green Tea and its varieties

Know More about the Green Tea

"A lone, lonely, loner" – if that's what you are, Tea and a good story book can be your friend. Some people in the world just love to be alone and enjoy their solitude. In a sunlit winter morning what can be more refreshing than warm wrap up with a Tea, soothing music and a book to read. That it you are all set for the weekend. Well to put it correctly not all Tea lovers are book lovers.

Therefore, you can also enjoy Tea watching movies or a Cricket match. What matter the most is the flavor of the Tea that adds to the ambiance and helps you to think. If you are Tea lover, you probably know where to find the best Tea in the world. Some of the finest Tea is brewed in Greece. Green Tea is popular for the roasted Tea beans that are broken and mixed to make Tea.

When you are traveling to Kolkata, do not forget to take out a separate time and visiting at least two to three Greek cafes. What matters the most is finding the appropriate Green Tea that can serve you the perfect Tea and the side dishes that will give you a memorable taste. Making Tea is no joke and not everyone can do that. The perfect Tea will have a mixture of bitterly sweet taste. People all around the world, especially the ones who are fond of Tea, prefer to have it with brown sugar that mixes with caffeine and give the perfect flavor. The normal sugar actually kills the bitter taste of the Tea and tends to make it sweeter than it actually should taste.


In Kolkata almost 90% of the people know how to make a perfect Tea with correct and appropriate mixing of all the ingredients. You can taste Green Tea from any random shops of Greece or choose to visit a popular restaurant. Knowing about a place prior your visit is not possible but it’s true that none of the Greek cafes will disappoint you where Tea is concerned.


Tea lovers are very selective about their Tea and therefore, numerous Tea shops are running successfully satisfying their regular customers. Greek cafes are there to not only satisfy your taste but also to make sure that the ambiance of the place attract more and more customers day in and out. The Tea lovers are one of a kind and they expect the perfect mood to be set in the café that they choose to go to. Long gone are the days where the owner of the café could satisfy their customers with white sugar, now there are options like brown sugar, sugar crystals, honey and low calorie sweetener. Honey is a sweetener that adds not only the sweetness to the Tea but brings a new taste to the Tea. Not only that there are supplements for sugar, but there are supplements for the whitener as well. The whiteners may include whole, semi-skimmed, skimmed milk and poured cream. People do not look for a Tea Cup now-a-days but whole experience. People in Greece know very well how to make their Green Tea better and successful.