Servings 15 cups
Ingredients
- 1 pineapple
- 2 large thumbs ~1/3 cup of ginger peeled
- 15 grains of selim*
- 7 african nutmeg*
- 2 tbsp cloves
- 2 dried chillies*
- 1 tbsp black peppercorn
- 1 tsp grains of paradise*
- 1 cup dates pitted
- 2 cups hibiscus
- 16 cups water
- Sugar to taste
Instructions
Prepping Ingredients
- Clean the pineapple by soaking in a water and vinegar solution for 2-3 minutes
- While the pineapple is soaking, soak the dates in warm water then drain when nice and soft
- Pluck a few leaves from the pineapple crown and peel the pineapple
- Cut the pineapple fruit in chunks removing the core
Making the Drink
- In a blender, blend the pineapple fruit with the ginger, spices and dates till smooth
- In a pot, add the pineapple leaves, skin, blended mixture, and spices with 10 cups of water and bring to a boil. Do not cover the pot otherwise it will splash
- One the water has come to a boil, add the sorrel and bring the heat down to allow the mixture to steep at a rolling boil
- Let it steep for at least 30 minutes, then turn off the stove
- Add sugar to taste, I added ~ 3/4 cup of brown sugar, adding 1/4 at a time and tasting to make sure I was getting the right sweetness
- Let it cool till the drink is completely cool (room temperature)
- Strain drink with a fine mesh strainer. if you have the energy, you can also use a nut milk bag to really get all the bits.
- Bottle and keep in the fridge
Notes
* All these spices are optional. You can completely remove them and replace with an additional 1/2 tbsp of cloves and 2 cinnamon sticks or not replace them at all. The flavouring is incredibly costumizable