The holiday seasons (and really any socializing in general) invokes thoughts of people gathering and laughing and drinking tasty alcoholic beverages. We are an alcohol centric society, and I am the first to admit that I have enjoy drinking a tasty beverage since I was a teen (I’m German, it was acceptable and sometimes encouraged. I won’t go into my thoughts about that at this point).
Off and on throughout my adult life I have toyed with the idea of total sobriety and sometimes went years without drinking. Sometimes weeks. Sometimes days. Sometimes, during times of high stress I drank every day.
I never really considered myself an alcoholic, because while I did drink in excess occasionally and made questionable choices sometimes, I never felt I NEEDED to drink or had withdrawals from it.
BUT, I did and do recognize that I have an unhealthy relationship with it because when I feel stressed, it is the first thing that I think of. When I think of social scenarios, alcohol is typically a focal point. When I see others drinking, I want to.
I made the decision a while back that I would break my relationship with alcohol entirely (aside from the use of medicinal tinctures and elixirs). I haven’t fully committed yet, but my intake has gone from 1-2 times a week to maybe once a month and never outside of my home and never more than 1-2 drinks maximum.
All this to say, this holiday I have been toying with different recipes of herbal infused fun drinks to be able to enjoy either at home after dinner, serve at a party for those who want to have a fun pretty drink but don’t want the alcohol, or just for Tuesday!
I made this Hibiscus & Hawthorn cocktail for my Herbal Holiday Pop-Up sale last month. It was so fun to create and share with my customers!
I chose hibiscus and hawthorn for this drink because of their heart protective properties. They both help lower blood pressure (so if you have an issue with low blood pressure, you should avoid) and hawthorn has an energetic heart healing aspect, as well. Holidays can bring up a lot of emotional stuff, so working with herbs that help you navigate those feelings can be helpful.
Okay. So, enough rambling, this is what you are really here for, right?
Hibiscus and Hawthorn Mocktail
Ingredients:
2 tablespoons of dried hibiscus
2 tablespoons of dried hawthorn berries (or 1/2 ounce of hawthorn tincture)
2 cups of filtered water.
2 cup of pomegranate or black cherry juice
2 cup of sparkling water
several limes
Hibiscus sugar (recipe below, as well)
Day before. Make hibiscus sugar.
Grind 1 tablespoon of hibiscus until fine powder. Mix well with a 4 ounces of cane sugar. Store in an airtight container overnight.
Day of. Create your hibiscus and hawthorn mocktail.
Boil the water. Steep the dried herbs to make a strong tea. Juice 1-2 limes. Strain the tea after 15 minutes. Combine tea, juice, lime juice, and sparkling water. Empty hibiscus sugar onto a flat plate. Cut several wedges of lime. Rim your glass with a wedge of lime to get the entire rim wet. Then place your glass upside-down on the plate of sugar to gently coat the rim with the hibiscus sugar.
Add ice to your glass. Fill with your drink and garnish with the wedge of lime. Cheers!
