How to make Gumamela Tea or Hibiscus Tea

Yes, dear readers, gumamela tea! I hope your garden or community still has those gumamela flowers around to make tea out of them. If they are almost gone now, start planting them again or you will be forking out 21 US dollars per pound for them, excluding shipping.

Why gumamela tea?  An article from ivillage.com  titled “Add 12 (or More) Years to Your Life! New Ways to Protect Against Heart Disease”

I quote,  Sip Hibiscus Tea. When folks with heart-damaging high blood pressure sip 24 ounces of hibiscus tea daily, their pressure readings can plunge 13 points in six weeks. That makes this flavorful brew as powerful as ACE Inhibitors, a class of prescription drugs used to lower blood pressure. Hibiscus contains plant pigments that act like just those artery-relaxing meds, according to researchers at Tufts University. Never tried it? Hibiscus tea is a pretty ruby red color and it has a tangy, fruity flavor similar to cranberry. Look for it in health and whole foods stores.

If you have more whys and want them answered, search the internet or ask your Doctor.

No flowers to make tea?  Don’t worry; you can buy them online, if you have PayPal or Credit Card, just search using Google. If not visit frontiercoop.com and buy Hibiscus flowers for a cheap 19 US dollars a pound (lb) -  a cheaper one, as the organic type is 21$ per lb.

Alright, you have placed your orders and now your gumamela flowers, well packaged, has arrived through Fedex, and you want to make tea out them.  Here is the procedure how to make hibiscus tea:

Materials needed:

2 C dried hibiscus flowers, rinsed
8 C water, divided
3/4 C sugar

Procedure:

• Bring hibiscus flowers, 4 cups of water, and sugar to a boil.
• When it reaches a boil, cover and simmer over low heat for 15 minutes.
• Remove from heat and allow to come to room temperature.
• Strain out the hibiscus flowers. 
• Add the remaining four cups of water.
• Stir and chill.
• Serve over ice. Spice with kalamansi, if desired.
• Serve.

Simple and Easy.

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Alright, you do not want to buy hibiscus flowers as you have lots of them around. Instead you want them dried and processed so that you can sell them.

How to dry hibiscus flowers

1.    Harvest the flowers.
2.    Wash to remove any foreign debris.
3.    Dry thoroughly on paper towels, then dry on screens in the sun or in a non-humid part of the house. If not you can try oven drying at low temperatures.
4.    Pack the dried flowers in sealed plastic bags.

You can visit the nearest DOST office for advice on best packaging for the product.   How to market them? By probably giving them away to friends, for starters to create demand and introduce them to the product; or you can start selling them online.