Hibiscus Drink (commonly called Zobo in Nigeria)

Zobo is produced from dried Roselle or sorrel leaves (Hibiscus Sabdariffa). This bright red drink is loved both for every day and as a refreshment drink in parties. This drink has many advantages: available, affordable, tasty, refreshing and have a lot healthy benefits.

Zobo is not only refreshing, it can also be used to regulate blood pressure, reduce cholesterol, strengthen blood vessels, calm the nerves, reduce stress, for weight loss, and to improve sex drive.

Here is how to make a delicious Nigerian Zobo drink:

This recipe makes about 5 litres of zobo drink, depending on how concentrated you want it to be. You may add artificial flavours and sweeteners such as Jolly Jus, Nutri-C and sugar.

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Ingredients

• 8 cups of dry hibiscus leaves

• 2 tablespoons of cloves (keneperi in Hausa)

• 2 stumps fresh ginger

• Water

• 1 big ripe pineapple

• I to 2 sachets of Jollus Jus

• Slices of citrus fruits of your choice: orange, lemon, lime – to garnish

Before you make the Zobo drink

1. Wash the dry Zobo leaves repeatedly in cold water. Zobo leaves are usually very dusty so make sure you wash off all the dust. It will seem like all the flavours/colour of the zobo are being washed off but don't worry, you will see that the dry zobo leaves still have a lot of the colour intact when you start boiling it.

2. Wash, peel and cut the pineapple into slices. Some people add the peel of the pineapple when making the zobo drink, I do too.

3. Peel and cut the ginger into small pieces.

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Method

1. Put the washed eaves into a deep pot.

2. Add the pineapples and pour enough water to cover the contents of the pot.

3. Add the ginger and the cloves, add more water if necessary and leave to boil for at least 30 minutes. I leave mine to boil for about an hour. This is because it will take some time for the zobo leaves to be completely soft and the pineapples tender.

4. Turn off the heat and set aside to cool down completely.

5. When cool, wringe out the juice from the pineapples and zobo leaves, add water, where necessary and then leaving only the zobo juice in the pot.

6. Pour the juice through a sieve to take out the remaining large particles then pour it through a chiffon cloth, cheese cloth or mesh stainer to remove the tiniest particles.

7. Add any artificial flavours of your choice at this time and stir.

8. Pour into bottles and refrigerate.

9. For immediate consumption, add few ice cubes

10. Serve chilled.

Enjoy!!!

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