This month's FREE herb with your $25 minimum purchase is dried hibiscus leaves. To receive it, simply add dried hibiscus leaves to your shopping cart, include at least $25 in other products, and this herb will be free while supplies last.
 
Overview
Hibiscus (Hibiscus sabdariffa), also known as roselle, is probably most familiar for its deep red calyces used in teas, beverages, and foods around the world. But the leaves are useful, too. Hibiscus leaves have a long history of culinary use across parts of Africa, Asia, and other regions where roselle is grown. They are traditionally enjoyed as a leafy vegetable and incorporated into soups, stews, sauces, and other dishes.
Fresh hibiscus leaves provide nutrients including vitamin C, beta-carotene and minerals such as calcium and iron, while the leaves also contain naturally occurring polyphenols and other antioxidant plant compounds. Because vitamin C can decrease during drying and storage, we don't make a specific vitamin C claim for our dried leaves. Dried hibiscus leaves offer another way to experience a plant many tea drinkers already know and love. Their flavor is pleasantly tart with green, earthy notes, making them suitable for herbal infusions, broths, and blends.
 
Some Things to Love About Hibiscus Leaves
Naturally antioxidant-rich: Hibiscus leaves contain polyphenols and flavonoids, plant compounds valued for their antioxidant activity.
 Nutrient-dense when fresh: Fresh roselle leaves contain vitamin C, beta-carotene and several important minerals.
Traditionally enjoyed as food: Roselle leaves have a long culinary history as a leafy vegetable and are used in soups, sauces, stews and other dishes in several food traditions.
 More of the plant, put to good use: Harvesting the leaves allows us to make fuller use of the hibiscus we already grow rather than thinking of the calyx as the only valuable part of the plant.
Why We Love It
We love hibiscus leaves because they remind us to learn the whole plant.
We grow hibiscus at Green Heffa Farms for those beautiful calyces that many of you already know from our herbal teas. But growing herbs also teaches us to pay attention to the useful parts of a plant that can easily be overlooked. The leaves are one of them. Using them allows us to make fuller use of a crop we've already invested our time, soil, water, and labor into growing. It is another example of how farming and herbalism invite us to look more closely at what the land produces and recognize value where others might not think to look. Their tart, green flavor pairs well with herbs such as spearmint, lemongrass, lemon balm, or mountain mint, making dried hibiscus leaves an interesting addition to your home herbal apothecary.
 
You know the calyx. Now meet the leaf.
 
Ways to Enjoy Dried Hibiscus Leaves
Brew as an herbal infusion. Enjoy alone or blend with your favorite herbs to create your own tea blends.
Add to soups, stews, sauces, or broths during cooking.
Experiment! This month's herb is an invitation to experience a familiar plant in a new way.
 
Note of Care: If you are pregnant, nursing, have a medical condition, or take medications, consult a qualified healthcare professional before using herbal products.
 
Disclaimer: Information shared on this site is for educational purposes. The information provided is not intended to be a substitute for medical treatment or advice. Please consult your healthcare provider before using herbal products, particularly if you have a known medical condition or if you are pregnant or nursing. Although we do our best to provide accurate and useful information, you are responsible for researching and verifying information before relying on it. We are medicinal plant and herb farmers, herbalists, and tea blenders. We are not licensed or registered healthcare practitioners. We are, however, believers in the safe and thoughtful use of botanical medicine.