Agua De Jamaica + Instant Pot Agua De Jamaica
Pour yourself a nice refreshing, tall glass of Agua De Jamaica and a few slices of your favorite fresh-squeezed fruit. This light, tart, almost punch-like drink will help quench your thirst and keep your tastebuds happy.
Suitable for gluten free, vegan, and vegetarian diets. Weight Watchers Points included.
This Hibiscus Iced Tea is a wonderful, invigorating drink that only requires 3 ingredients and can be whipped up in no time. It’s a healthier alternative to soda, and depending on how sweet you make it, it can also be a healthier alternative to a traditional glass of Southern Iced Tea.
Guys, we all know tea is great in the Spring and Summer especially, but this Agua De Jamaica (aka Hibiscus Tea) is delicious all year round. It has a cranberry, tart taste, which is usually why some kind of sweetener is added. Although IMHO, it isn’t really needed.
In fact, if you went to Mexico, where this drink is suuuuuuper popular, you’d find it commonly made with quite a bit of white sugar. You may also love Instant Pot Iced Tea or Peach Lemonade.
Why You’ll Love This
- Easy to customize.
- Nice to have a different and possibly new drink to offer guests.
- Can be made ahead of time.
- Compliments spicy food well.
- Perfect drink for around the pool, beachside, potlucks, 4th of July and all year round.
What Is Agua De Jamaica?
Agua De Jamaica, where Jamaica is pronounced ha-MY-cah is a popular agua frescas drink from Mexico. It can also be called hibiscus iced tea or hibiscus water.
What Is Agua Fresca?
It’s a popular drink and one of Mexico’s most popular ones. It’s made up of fruit blended with water, lime juice, and usually a bit of sweetener.
Ingredient Notes
- Dried hibiscus flower – grab yours at your local grocery market or online from Amazon.
- Water – just regular tap water.
- Sugar- use white sugar or substitute for honey.
Soooo, let’s gather up these ingredients and I will show you….
How To Make Agua De Jamaica
Get the complete ingredients list and instructions in recipe card below.
To Make The Concentrate:
- Put the water and hibiscus flower in a pot and bring to a boil.
- Reduce to a simmer and simmer for 5 minutes.
- Switch off heat and let stand for an hour.
- Strain the concentrate and use or store it for later use.
To Make The Iced Tea:
- Transfer the concentrate into a pitcher.
- Stir in sugar to taste (½-1 cup)
- Add remaining water and mix until the sugar has dissolved.
- Chill and serve over ice.
And for my fellow Instant Pot fanatics, here are the steps for making Instant Pot Agua De Jamaica…
Make It In The Instant Pot
- Add the water and hibiscus into your Instant Pot insert.
- Close the Instant Pot and turn the valve to the sealing position. Set to high pressure and select pressure cook/ manual for 4 minutes.
- When done, allow a Natural Pressure release for 8 minutes before releasing the rest of the pressure.
- Strain the flowers out of the drink and serve.
Note: cook time listed does not include the time it takes for Instant Pot to come up to pressure.
Recipe Tips
- Squeeze your hibiscus flowers to test freshness. If they’re still soft, they’re still good. If they’re hard, toss them and get new ones.
- Keep in mind that you may dilute your tea even more with more water if it’s too tart, or with ice as it melts.
- You can also add more sugar or honey if it’s too tart.
- Add a slice of lemon and orange for a real thirst-quenching drink.
- You can also store this drink in a quart size mason jar.
Delicious Variations
- Swap sugar- Use a different sweetener, such as agave, honey or stevia.
- Vary sugar- Use less sugar for a more tart taste or add sugar for a sweeter taste.
- Add fruit wedges- Slice up a lemon or lime to add to in.
- Add a spritzer– pour in a bit of your favorite carbonated beverage such as ginger ale, Sprite, seltzer, spirits, sparkling waters, etc.
- Add spices- like cinnamon and ginger.
Storage
- Prep Ahead – This Instant Pot Hibiscus Iced Tea is so simple to make. Make the concentrate ahead of time so you can have it ready to make the tea when you’re ready for it.
- Store – Store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days.
- Freeze – You can freeze the concentrate if stored properly in the freezer. Transfer concentrate into convenient ziplock bags. Squeeze out all the extra air, seal, and label the bags. Store flat in the freezer for three months.
FAQs
Jamaica Flowers are dried hibiscus flowers. They’re also called Jamaica or Flor de Jamaica.
Similar to regular tea bags, dried Jamaica flowers or Hibiscus flowers can keep for many months, even up to a year, if they’re stored properly in an airtight container.
You can get these dried flowers at Mexican markets, Mexican grocery stores and even some local grocery stores are carrying them now. Just be sure to look by the spices and dried chiles section folks. And if you have no luck there, you can always check out Amazon.
Serving Suggestions
- Air Fryer Tortilla Chips.
- Instant Pot Chicken Fajitas.
- 15-Minute Shrimp Tacos.
- Air Fryer Churros.
- Air Fryer Chili Nachos.
More Drink Recipes
- Instant Pot Infused Water.
- Sorrel Punch.
- Hibiscus Moscow Mule.
- Easy Instant Pot Iced Tea.
- Instant Pot Raspberry Lemonade.
- Instant Pot Peach Lemonade.
Weight Watchers Points
- There are 4 Blue Plan SmartPoints in one serving when made with a half cup of white sugar.
- If you decrease the white sugar the points may decrease. If you decrease the amount of white sugar used, you may decrease the points.
- If you eliminate this sugar completely, this drink recipe has only 1 Blue Plan SmartPoint per serving.
Thank you for reading my Agua De Jamaica recipe post. And please come visit again as I continue to slice, dice and dream up affordable Air Fryer recipes, Instant Pot Recipes, Southern Recipes and more. Thanks for supporting Recipes from a Pantry, food blog.
Get The Hibiscus Iced Tea Recipe:
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Agua De Jamaica
Ingredients
- 1 cup (45g) dried hibiscus flowers
- 2 quarts (1.89L) water divided
- ½ cup (100g) sugar or honey, and to taste
Instructions
To Make the Concentrate:
- Put the water and hibiscus flowers in a pot and bring to a boil.
- Reduce to a simmer and simmer for 5 minutes.
- Switch off the heat and let it stand for an hour.
- Strain the concentrate and use to make the iced tea, or store it for later use.
To Make The Iced Tea:
- Transfer the concentrate into a pitcher.
- Stir in sugar, to taste.
- Add remaining water and mix until the sugar has dissolved.
- Chill and serve over ice.
To Make In The Instant Pot
- Add the water and hibiscus into your Instant Pot insert.
- Close the Instant Pot and turn the valve to the sealing position. Set to high pressure and select pressure cook / manual pressure for 4 minutes.
- When done, allow for a Natural Pressure release of 8 minutes, before manually releasing the rest of the pressure.
- Strain the flowers out of the drink, add sweetener to taste, and serve or store for future use.
Notes
- Squeeze your hibiscus flowers to check for freshness. If they’re still soft, they’re still good. If they’re hard, toss them and get new ones.
- Keep in mind that you may dilute your tea even more with more water if it’s too tart, or with ice as it melts.
- You can also add more sugar or honey if it’s too tart.
- Add a slice of lemon and orange for a real thirst-quenching drink.
- You can store this drink in a Quart size mason jar.
- There are 4 WW Blue Plan SmartPoints in one serving when made with 1/2 cup of white sugar. If you decrease the amount of white sugar used, you may decrease the points. If you eliminate this sugar completely, this recipe contains only 1 WW Blue Plan SmartPoint per serving.
This was delicious . It reminded me of grape juice.
Sounds delicious! I love hibiscus tea