Senegalese Hibiscus Drink Adventure

She transported me. I went from reading the horrific news in America and choking back tears to standing in her bright kitchen in Senegal, watching as she soaked hibiscus leaves for a refreshingly cool drink.

The lady behind the delightful Senecuisine blog, whose name I wish I knew but couldn’t find despite online searches, walked me through the steps to make “bissap juice,” which she calls, “the drink of all the occasions in Senegal.” Her recipe includes “orange blossom” and “sachets of vanilla sugar.” Yum.

An Eater New Orleans article sent me down this wonderfully distracting, floral path. Senegalese-American chef Serigne Mbaye had returned to New Orleans, the outlet reported in late May, and opened Dakar, a temporary pop-up serving delicious-sounding food plus two non-alcoholic drinks. Besides ginger beer, he’s serving “bissap.”

Not knowing what this drink is — and feeling strongly that I should — I learned that it’s a cold hibiscus drink well-known throughout Senegal. Senecuisine’s recipe has a difficulty level of “very easy,” which gave me some confidence.

“When visiting any Senegalese household, you will most certainly be offered homemade bissap, one of the country’s most popular drinks,” Brooklyn-based, Dakar-born chef Pierre Thiam told Edible Brooklyn in 2017.

Mbaye described his bissap at the New Orleans pop-up as “cold hibiscus tea, sweetened and spiced.” Although I lack hibiscus flowers, there’s some loose hibiscus tea in an old canister. And, while there wasn’t any orange blossom water in the house, I do have a tiny bottle of fiori di Sicilia, an Italian extract with citrus and vanilla flavors.

Vanilla sugar is exactly what it sounds like, but Bob’s Red Mill points out that it can be hard to find in the United States. Perhaps even more so during a pandemic. There’s so much winging it happening with this drink already, I decided to create vanilla sugar from what’s already in the pantry.

My first try making the non-bissap drink wasn’t exactly successful. Not surprising considering I had, let’s see, none of the correct ingredients except hot water, sugar, and some mint leaves. The Senecuisine recipe calls for 10 tablespoons of sugar plus two sachets of vanilla sugar. That seemed like...a lot, but she’s absolutely right that “when you do not put enough sugar, it might be acidic.”

With barely a couple teaspoons of sugar dissolving in the red liquid, it was downright bitter. I had added too much fiori di Sicilia, which gave it an oily rind-like aftertaste. And, uh, a splash of my favorite honey gin didn’t improve things, either. But stirring in more sugar to the remaining original liquid did make the next servings much better. Enough that I was determined to get it right.

Senecuisine recommends steeping mint sprigs with the hibiscus, but our spearmint plant is quite potent. Rather than overwhelm the flavor, I decided to add a couple fresh mint leaves for garnish at the end. If you’ve got milder mint, steeping a sprig alongside the tea leaves could be tasty. This time I steeped the tea in a paper teabag closed with a handy clasp from Marie, which prevented any leaves from escaping.

Increasing the sugar and minimizing the extract amounts worked out nicely. The sun shone, a breeze tousled the trees, and we sipped our magenta iced tea. For a moment the drink’s pleasant floral scent made it seem like we were somewhere else.

Senegalese Hibiscus Drink
Adapted from Senecuisine

Makes four cups

4 tsp. loose hibiscus tea
4 cups boiling water
2 Tbsp. granulated sugar
1 Tbsp. raw sugar, aka turbinado sugar
¼ tsp. vanilla extract
⅛ tsp. fiori di Sicilia
Ice cubes for serving
Fresh mint leaves, rinsed, for garnish

Put the tea in a tea bag or fine-mesh tea strainer inside a large (4-cup) glass measuring cup. Gently pour in 4 cups of boiling water, making sure that the tea bag or strainer is submerged.

Steep for 7 minutes, and then remove the tea. While the liquid is still hot, stir in the sugars. Allow it to cool completely. Then add the vanilla and fiori di Sicilia, stirring to incorporate fully.

To serve, put some ice cubes in a glass and pour some of the cooled drink on top. Garnish with a couple fresh mint leaves. Store any leftover tea in the refrigerator.