The Christmas Sorrel

Ingredients

• 4 cups dried sorrel (dried hibiscus calyces — look for Jamaican sorrel, not the leaf)
• 8 cups water
• 1 oz fresh ginger, peeled and sliced thin
• 6 whole cloves
• 2 cinnamon sticks
• 1 cup sugar (adjust to taste — start with ¾ cup)
• Peel of 1 orange (just the zest, no pith)
• 2 tbsp white rum per glass (optional, but traditional)
• Ice

Method

1. Bring the water to a boil in a large pot.
2. Add ginger, cloves, cinnamon sticks, and orange peel. Boil for 5 minutes to infuse the spices.
3. Remove from heat. Add the dried sorrel.
4. Stir once, cover the pot, and leave it. Let it steep at room temperature for at least 4 hours — overnight gives you a deeper, richer color and flavor.
5. Strain through a fine mesh strainer or cheesecloth, pressing the sorrel to extract everything.
6. While the liquid is still warm, add sugar and stir until fully dissolved.
7. Taste. Adjust sugar. It should be tart and bright, not syrupy sweet.
8. Refrigerate until cold — at least 2 hours.

To Serve

Pour over ice in a tall glass. Add a splash of white rum if serving it the Jamaican way. Garnish with a strip of orange peel or a cinnamon stick.

Tips

The steeping time is everything. Four hours minimum, overnight preferred. The sorrel turns from bright red to a deep ruby as it steeps — that's the sign it's ready.

This keeps in the fridge for up to a week. The flavor deepens over the first 2 days. Make it in bulk; people always want more.