I’m sticking to this no alcohol thing. This week’s drink is based on bissap, which is often called the national drink of Senegal. Jo’s partner Lazare taught* me how to make it when I visited her in the Cote d’Ivoire and I have a stash of hibiscus flowers that Jo brought back from Senegal to make this. (I’m running low, as she and Ms T are off to spent two years in Nigeria soon I’ll have to make sure that I put an order in!)

Anyway bissap, according to Lazare has many benefits and is especially good for the blood and a USDA study in 2008 showed that consuming hibiscus tea lowered blood pressure in a group of prehypertensive and mildly hypertensive adults. It’s also a diuretic and has Vitamin C and other minerals.   I’m pretty sure that the sugar added to it cancels out the benefits but I do like the taste. It seemed like a good idea to use bissap for Friday Night Cocktails.

I’ve used tonic or soda water, but you could also use lemonade, don’t leave out the bitters though as it brings it all altogether. You could also use vanilla extract instead for something a bit sweeter.

What

Tonic or Soda water

Angostura bitters

Bissap

Ice

Mint for garnish

How

Fill a glass with ice and pour bissap so it comes up to halfway, add a dash of angostura and top up with tonic or soda water. Garnish with mint.

*if my instructions aren’t clear enough and there is a chance that’s the case, just google jus de bissap and there are loads of recipes that are a bit clearer