Edible Hibiscus

My hibiscus and champagne cocktail.  La-di-da!

You know when you have one of those really, really crummy days, and then something extra shitty happens to turn it up a notch?  That was my day yesterday.  I was at my store, not feeling at my most chipper, and when a customer needlessly freaked out at me.  I was ready to say "That's enough of this day, I'm going to the pub!", when my husband talked to said customer, and you know what?  The same person who had just yelled at me a half-hour before was as sweet as pie to my hubby.  I know, wtf, right?

A woman had just wandered into the store and the following is an abbreviated excerpt from our following conversation:

Trevor: (laughing into phone) Okay!  Bye now!

Me: Was that X on the phone who just yelled at me?

Trevor: Yup.  X is fine.

Me: (incredulous) What the hell?  Why was X nice to you? (To lady who just walked in) Excuse my language, but what an xxxhole!

Customer:  Ha ha!  You sound like me!

Me:  Good!  Then what I meant was "What a xxxxing xxxhole!"

Customer:  X probably has small xxxxx syndrome.

And thus a friendship was born..

Bindy is a New Zealand transplant, a gorgeous and funky designer-type who is just one of those great people you instantly get along with.  We gabbed for 40 minutes or so; she is hilarious and interesting and she enthused about her new favourite treat: edible hibiscus.

Edible hibiscus is this neat little flower from Australia that you can eat.  They're preserved in a cane-sugar syrup (the syrup taste is a lot like grenadine).  You pop one of these little lovelies into your champagne flute, pour in your bubbles and the flower unfurls.  Streams of bubbles rush up from the blossom, making it extra pretty.

Bindy was good enough to come back later and bring me some hibiscus from her own stash (THANK YOU!!), and I immediately had Trevor pick me up a small bottle of bubbly so I could conduct my own taste test.  Now Trevor picked a sweet champagne, so the concoction turned out as sweet as a soft-drink; I would recommend something drier if you're going to try it yourself.  Still, it was a lovely little sweet treat; I imagine you'd enjoy this the same way you would icewine--a little with dessert to finish off the evening.  With a drier champagne, this would make a nice starter to go with apps.

A cozy night in with hibiscus champagne was the perfect antidote to my blahs.  Thanks Bindy for making me laugh, and introducing me to this very tasty, pretty treat.

If you are interested in buying edible hibiscus, this is a good place to start.

'Til next time,

Barb