Bissap

Ingredients

Base

• 120 gdried hibiscus calyces
• 2 litreswater

To flavour, choose one or more

• a large bunch of fresh mint
• 5cm ginger, sliced
• 1vanilla pod, split
• 2 tablespoonsorange blossom water

To sweeten

• 200 gsugar, or to taste

To serve

• ice
• small plastic bags or bottles, as vendors sell it

Directions

1. Brown or dusty calyces give a flat drink. Rinse them in cold water before use. The second is a long cold steep.
2. Bring the water to the boil in a large pot. Add the rinsed hibiscus calyces. Add the ginger or vanilla now if using them. Bring it back to a boil and then lower it. Simmer it gently for ten minutes. Do not boil it hard for a long time. Take the pot off the heat now.
3. Add the mint leaves to the hot liquid now. Mint should steep rather than boil. Cover the pot and let it stand for thirty minutes. Pour it through a fine sieve into a large jug.
4. Press the calyces gently with a ladle. Do not press hard, which clouds the drink. Discard the spent calyces and mint. Strain a second time for a clearer result.
5. Stir the sugar in while the liquid is still warm. Warm liquid dissolves sugar far more easily. Taste it and keep adding until it balances. It should still taste clearly tart underneath.
6. Add orange blossom water at the very end. Let it cool to room temperature first. Then refrigerate it for several hours. Pour it into tall glasses filled with ice.
7. Add a sprig of fresh mint to each glass. It keeps for five days in the refrigerator. Discard it if it starts to taste fizzy.

Technique

• The same dried calyces are sold as bissap, zobo, karkade, sorrel and flor de jamaica depending on where you buy them.
• The preparations differ mainly in what is added: mint in Senegal, ginger and pineapple in Nigeria, cloves and rum in the Caribbean.

Substitutions

• Fresh hibiscus calyces can be used where they grow, using roughly three times the weight.
• Honey replaces sugar and gives a rounder sweetness.

Variations

• The mint version is the Senegalese standard.
• A ginger-heavy version is drunk in Mali and Burkina Faso.
• Some households add pineapple or baobab for body.

History

Brewed from Hibiscus sabdariffa calyces grown across the Sahel; the same plant yields Nigerian zobo and Ghanaian sobolo.

Frequently asked questions

What is Bissap?

Bissap is a drink from Benin: dried hibiscus calyces steeped with sugar, mint or ginger and drunk very cold. Brewed from Hibiscus sabdariffa calyces grown across the Sahel; the same plant yields Nigerian zobo and Ghanaian sobolo.

How long does Bissap take to make?

Bissap takes 10 minutes of preparation and 15 minutes of cooking. The recipe makes about 2 litres. It is rated easy to make.

What can I substitute in Bissap?

Yes, within limits. Fresh hibiscus calyces can be used where they grow, using roughly three times the weight. Honey replaces sugar and gives a rounder sweetness.

What is the most important thing to get right in Bissap?

Bring the water to the boil in a large pot. Add the rinsed hibiscus calyces. Add the ginger or vanilla now if using them. Bring it back to a boil and then lower it. Simmer it gently for ten minutes. Do not boil it hard for a long time. Take the pot off the heat now.