Agua de Jamaica Drink {Hibiscus Punch}

An easy 3-ingredient Mexican recipe you will make again and again. This Jamaica drink is essentially a sweet iced tea made with dried hibiscus flowers and fresh lime juice. Serve with plenty of ice!

{First posted December 27, 2013. Last updated May 26, 2022}

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A signature drink is a tricky proposition.

It needs to be fancy, effervescent, celebratory, with enough kick-in-the-pants to get the party started. This can be tough if you don’t drink or are serving a crowd that includes pregnant ladies and/or children.

You don’t want them to feel left out, like “Oh, great, one more party where my partner/Mom/Dad gets to have a holly, jolly time. I’ll just wait over here in the corner until they are ready to go home.”

No Way! 

You absolutely want the pregnant lady to have a good time, put her feet up and have her own nice icy mocktail. This refreshing, tangy-sweet, floral, fragrant, complex, jamaica recipe called Jamaica agua fresca is the perfect solution.

Not to mention parents will especially appreciate you giving a tall, very full glass to their small children because (shhhh…..it will never come out of their clothes). But let’s forget all that and talk about how to make it!

More To Explore

What Are Flor de Jamaica {Hibiscus Flowers}? Plus 10 Hibiscus Recipes

Super Creamy Authentic Horchata Recipe

Jugo Verde {Mexican Green Juice}

What is Agua de Jamaica?

The drink you are looking at is Agua de Jamaica (pronounced ha-mike-a).

This popular agua fresca has a vibrant, royal, reddish-purple hue thanks to flor de jamaica or dried hibiscus flowers. Jamaica, hibiscus or whatever you’d like to call it (it goes by sorrel in the Caribbean) is acidic and tart but when mellowed with sugar becomes a refreshing drink.

Jamaica agua fresca (literally translated into Jamaica water) is enjoyed all over Mexico and anywhere Mexican food is served. The flowers are steeped in hot water, just like making tea, and then strained out. Sugar is added and then the mixture is chilled. It’s that easy! Let’s make some, no?

Ingredients To Make This Jamaica Drink

Don’t you just love a three-ingredient recipe? Of course you do!

• Flor de Jamaica (Hibiscus flowers) You can find the whole dried flowers in Latin markets. They are sold in bulk bags or bins for next to nothing. You can also buy them online of course, where they are remarkably more expensive. You don’t need to buy a whole ton, a little goes a long way.
• Granulated sugar
• Limes

How To Make Agua de Jamaica

Have I mentioned how easy this recipe it? It is ridiculously easy. We are basically making tea. Before we get started however we want to clean the hibiscus flowers. Place the flor de jamaica in a strainer and rinse under cold water to remove any dirt.

step one

Boil. Add 12 cups of cold water to a large pot and bring to a boil. Remove from the heat.

step two

Steep. Add jamaica flowers and 1 cup of sugar. Stir until sugar is dissolved then let steep for 10 minutes.

step three

Strain. Pour hibiscus water through a fine mesh strainer into a heatproof container. Stir in lime juice. Taste and add more sugar if desired. Chill.

step four

Serve. Keep the agua fresca in the refrigerator until you are ready to serve. Serve with plenty of crushed ice and a lime wedge garnish.

*You can also add a shot of tequila to each glass as you serve it, if you want to make 1 drink, 2 ways.

Storage and Such

This Jamaica drink will keep in the refrigerator for a week to 10 days (not like it will last that long).

This is a party-sized recipe. Obviously cut the recipe in half–or double it (!)–depending on how many you’ll be serving.

More Non-Alcoholic Drinks To Try!

• Matcha Horchata Drink
• Rhubarb Agua Fresca
• Simple and Quick Champurrado
• How To Make A Mangonada
• Pink Rhubarb Lemonade
• The Perfect Vegan Horchata
• Cranberry Agua Fresca with Mint and Lime

Jamaica Water Is The Key To Summertime Fun

If you are going to have a signature drink this summer this Jamaica drink should definitely be it. Let me know when you make it by snapping a pic and tagging me on Instagram @holajalapeno and #holajalapeno so I can see or leave me a comment below (don’t forget to leave a ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ rating) ! Also, sign up for my weekly newsletter, lots of good stuff there too!

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