HIBISCUS TEA BEFORE BED: INTRO
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Hibiscus tea is one of the most popular herbal teas in the world today. A lot of people have experienced numerous health or general well being benefits, especially those who consume hibiscus tea before bed! Are you a fan of the hibiscus tea? Do you consume hibiscus tea before bed?
If you have never heard of it before, do you want to know more? If yes, you are in the right place!! Let’s get down to business!!!
Hibiscus Tea Before Bed – Overview
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This article will be evaluating hibiscus tea in great detail. First, we will learn the basics of hibiscus tea and why you should consider adding this particular type of tea to your herbal tea diet.
Then, we will look at some simple recipes you can use to make hibiscus tea before bed. Don’t worry, the recipe is very easy to follow – no complicated listings of ingredients or difficult to follow instructions!
Next, we give you certain things to look out for when buying your hibiscus tea. Mastering this list of important considerations will turn you into a knowledgeable consumer in no time – you’ll be able to separate the “good” from the “bad” with ease!
Finally, we will recommend a couple of our favorite types of hibiscus tea offerings for your next purchase. By no means are these the ONLY top notch hibiscus teas. They are, however, ones that we have extensively researched and experienced to the point that we feel comfortable suggesting them to this herbal tea community! If you are as excited as I am, let’s dive in! As the saying goes, there’s no time like the present!!
Hibiscus Tea Before Bed – Learning the Basics
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Hibiscus tea is a very powerful tea that is alleged to have a number of health and/or general wellbeing benefits. It is made from the specie of the hibiscus plant known as the “Hibiscus Sabdariffa”, just one of the numerous different kinds of hibiscus.
It is known all over the world for its rich taste and blend. However, it is native to the Middle East, Africa and some parts of America. It is known by different names in various regions. For instance, it is known as Zobo in West Africa and rose of Sharon and hardy hibiscus in other parts of the world. Some even call it the Jamaica Flower! Pretty cool, huh?
Why is this tea popular? It is believed to be loaded with anti-oxidants. These anti-oxidant qualities help to protect the body against the damages caused by the free radical cells (a leading cause of or contributor to cancer) .
However, there is another benefit that you’re probably anticipating if you are reading this article… What is it? If you’re having a problem with sleeping, then you should totally try out the addition of hibiscus tea before bed to your nighttime ritual!
Not only is this a far more “natural” sleep solution remedy than is a “sleeping pill”, it helps to drastically lower blood pressure and calm the nerves, making it easier to relax and fall asleep! As the saying goes, start small and natural, only resorting to the synthetic medicines if you absolutely have to!
The beauty about the hibiscus plant is that it can be grown in a garden and in warm temperatures. This is one of the reasons why it enjoys such broad availability around the globe! You can identify it in the wild by looking out for crimson stems and bell-shaped flowers.
Do you know the best part? The hibiscus tea is not difficult to make and consume and doesn’t require any special equipment! If you’re buying it, it often comes in teabags or raw flower form. Both are relatively easy to work with and are roughly equivalent in terms of popularity in the herbal tea community!
But PLEASE be careful with the addition of hibiscus tea to your diet! Just like any other substance, overuse can lead to minor side effects like nausea and stomach bloating. Also, you may feel sleepy when driving or at work because of its sleep-inducing and relaxing effects. Taking hibiscus tea before bed is the best thing to do, but ONLY after consultation with your doctor, ok?
So those are just some of the benefits you can expect! Hibiscus is really awesome, don’t you agree? If you are still in doubt, the next part will leave none! Let’s look at some simple recipes that you can use to create that perfect cup of hibiscus tea, starting TONIGHT!
Side Note: Learn how to make the Best Spearmint Tea – another great herbal tea for your bedtime ritual!
A Simple Recipe on Making Hibiscus Tea
To make this recipe simple and easy to understand, I have divided it into two parts.
We evaluate the ingredients you need to make the tea and their respective quantities in the first part. Then we will look at the instructions in the second part. Easy enough, right?
If you’re buying your hibiscus flower in any form, ensure that they are pre-dried. If they aren’t, you may have to pre-dry them which is more stressful. Let’s try to avoid that. After all, this is supposed to be a stress relieving, not stress inducing, process! Save yourself the time and work with pre-dried only, trust me!
Easy List of Ingredients
- Hibiscus flowers/teabags (1/2 cup) (the more you add, the more flavor you’ll get)
- Water (4 – 8 cups)
- Sweeteners (optional) (we like to use sustainably sourced honey)
Easy to Follow Instructions
Step One. The first thing you must do is to prepare your dried hibiscus leaves. You can skip this part if you’re using teabags. Remove the base of the flower and focus on the green part that is attached to the stem.
You can decide to remove the pistil if you like. If you don’t know what it looks like, it’s a threadlike tube that’s situated in the middle of the leaf. Once you’re done preparing, cut the leaves. This increases the aroma and strength of the flavor.
You can also “grind” the leaves using a mortar and pestle (which is our preferred approach in terms of maximizing flavor and reducing waste)!
Step Two. It’s now time to boil the tea. Please be careful when working with boiling water and be sure to wear protective clothing! Take a medium-sized pot and place your cut leaves in it.
Pour the water such that it covers the leaves. Place the pot on medium heat and bring it to a boil. Bringing the water to a boil will take a different amount of time depending on a number of factors (like your level of altitude, for instance).
Once it’s done, take it down and allow it to simmer.
Step Three. Add your sweeteners and other extras if you want. These extras may include lemon, honey, different types of herbs, etc.
In addition to lemon, cut orange and lime slices make for a festive and unique twist! Also, the addition of honey (so long as it is sustainably sourced, adds a little bit of that “soothing” feeling that we are after – try it out)!
Step Four. Let your tea steep. The standard time for steeping is between 10 to 20 minutes. Note that the longer the tea steeps, the stronger the flavor will be. Of course, you don’t need to steep much longer than 20 minutes, as there is only so much flavor to be released!
I know you’re in a hurry to consume your delicious hibiscus tea, but you shouldn’t rush too quickly! Remember, the goal is to make the hibiscus tea before bed to help you relax and sleep. Try to find enjoyment and relaxation in all parts of the process – allow it to become part of your relaxation ritual!!
How Should the Tea be Served?
You can either consume it hot or cold. If you want the cold effect, keep it in your refrigerator for an hour or two after steeping. Note that, while this tea can be served in several ways, the taste comes out the same (depending on your additives and sweeteners, of course).
Now that you know HOW to make your hibiscus tea before bed, let’s look out for a few things you NEED to note BEFORE making your next purchase. If you keep this important factors in mind, you’ll be more satisfied with your purchase (and your palate will thank you)!
Side Note: If you like working “from scratch”, you might enjoying learning how to make herbal tea from the Anise Herb! Another fun one is learning How to Make Dandelion Tea!
Important Things to Note When Buying Hibiscus Tea
There are a lot of things you need to look out for when buying hibiscus flowers or tea bags. These include health or general wellbeing benefits, sourcing considerations, quantity and quality, specific features, manufacturer reputation and so on. Let’s take a look at some of the most important ones in due turn:
Hypertension
Hibiscus tea is meant to reduce high blood pressure. To find out if it is alleged to do so, check the description on the body of the packaging.
This is also a good time to consult with your doctor to ensure that hibiscus tea is compliant with any dietary or health restrictions that may be unique to your own situation!
Quantity and Quality
These two features must NOT be neglected for any reason. The quality of your tea determines whether it will be enjoyed or not. If the quality is bad, you wouldn’t want to consume it in the first place.
If the quantity is small, you won’t get value for your money. So, once it has a large quantity and the quality is good, go for it, but….Please make sure to avoid TOO large of a quantity, as you don’t want to bump up against expiration date concerns!
Regulatory Bodies:
This is super important. Hibiscus flowers are grown on organic farms (the best ones, at least). This means that they should be grown without ANY form of additives. Regulatory bodies are set up to ensure that these organic farms adhere to this practice.
You have note whether these products are certified by the right regulatory bodies, to avoid buying counterfeits or buying from illegal manufacturers. These agencies include Kosher, USDA Organic, etc.
Now that you know what to look out for, let’s look at our top picks. You can use these suggestions if you want to skip the whole “research” part – after all, this is supposed to be a relaxing process, right?!
Hibiscus Tea Before Bed – Which Brands are Best?
Are you looking for the top hibiscus tea products to buy? Not to worry! We got you covered. Here are our top picks you should consider. Again, these are NOT the ONLY good hibiscus tea offerings on the market – however, they have certainly won us over and I suspect they will win you over as well!
This particular hibiscus tea comes in tea bags, so you don’t have to worry about preparing the leaves. One beautiful thing about this offering is that its manufacturing process is completely ethical.
It is certified by USDA organic, non-GMO, and Kosher. 100% Organic!
This hibiscus also has a large quantity. You buy it in a case of 6 boxes, and each of these boxes contains 16 tea bags. That means you are getting 96 tea bags in total.
If that’s not a large quantity, I don’t know what is. Importantly, its not TOO large you arise any expiration date concerns – so long as you consume it on a regular basis, and I suspect that you will!
My Experience
Unlike other hibiscus teas, the taste of this one is very fruity and nice. It’s also very refreshing. When I am drinking a hibiscus tea before bed, I typically consume it based upon the season. For instance, if it is the Summer, I will drink it cold. If it is the Winter, I will drink it warm. The choice is yours, of course!
I also love the quantity. It is large enough to keep me well stocked for the appropriate amount of time, but I don’t feel like I need to drink it around the clock to avoid any expiration date concerns! The expiration date gave me enough time. That was a big plus for me!
Furthermore, I feel like this tea had an impact, even if slight, on my health because it enhanced my circulatory system. I don’t know if this was due to the increased fluid intake, something else, or the properties of the hibiscus. However, something seemed to be different – and for the better!
Here are the pros and cons to help you decide if it’s the right hibiscus tea to add to your bed time ritual!
Pros
- Large quantity (wasn’t needing to “re buy” so frequently)
- Certified by USDA Organic
- Seems to improve cardiovascular system, but I suggest speaking with a doctor to confirm.
- Produced by ethical practices
Cons
- It’s a bit expensive (but you certainly “get” what you pay for in terms of quality).
This is one hibiscus that I recommend any time, any day. Two things stand out in this particular offering – the storage system and quantity.
Unlike the previous one, this hibiscus tea comes in resealable bags that help it sustain its freshness! You’d be amazed that resealable bags are NOT the norm in the herbal tea arena – for some reason!
The contents can fill ~200 small cups. This can serve one person for a long time, but not so long as to bring about expiration date concerns!
This product is produced from sustainable and ethical practices as well. The farms that produced it are in faraway Egypt, so the quality is very high. It is also certified by the USDA Organic. What could be better than this?
Another good thing about this product is that it’s versatile. It can be used to make jams, baked goods, and tea. While its usually not a cancer, this versatility is nice in case you are bumping up against an expiration date and want to use the hibiscus before it goes to waste!
My Experience
I had a wonderful experience with this hibiscus. First of all, it came in resealable bags, so I didn’t have to bother about it going bad quickly. It remained fresh for a very long time. It also came with instructions on how to prepare the tea. Perfect for beginners and a great addition to the recipe that we provide above!
My health, or at least my sense of my health and wellbeing, drastically improved. I felt lighter, which is somewhat of a unique feeling! My high blood pressure (or my sense of stress) also seemed to be reduced. I need to chat with my doctor to see if that’s a placebo effect or the real deal!
Here are some pros and cons to help you decide if this is a good hibiscus tea to add to your pre-bedtime routine:
Pros
- It is packaged in resealable bags (great to preserve freshness)
- It is produced with ethical methods
- It’s versatile (great for uses “other” than tea)
- Certified by USDA Organic
Cons
- It’s not easy to quantify (use small measuring cups to ensure consistency)!
Final Thoughts
So, there you have it, ladies and gentlemen! Taking Hibiscus tea before bed has numerous health or wellbeing benefits – one of which seems to be enhanced relaxation that helps a consumer drift more peacefully into sleep! We hope that this guide will help you pick out the hibiscus tea that is best for your bedtime ritual!
Comments
What kind of herbal tea do you choose for your evenings? Have you ever tried to drinking hibiscus tea before bed? What was your experience like? Did you find it to be just what you needed in terms of helping you relax and drift into a peaceful pre-bedtime state of mind? Perhaps you even used one of our recipes to help you accomplish this? Be sure to share with us by posting in the Comments below! We read and reply to every comment and love interacting with the herbal tea community!