Have you ever heard of ‘concentrado de Jamaica’? It is a pleasant-tasting syrup made from ‘flor de Jamaica’, used to make cocktails, mocktails, smoothies and refreshing drinks in general, but also to add a special touch to sauces and marinades.

At this point (except for those who already know, of course), you’re probably wondering what Flor de Jamaica is – well, it’s simply hibiscus flowers.
We usually associate hibiscus and karkadè with Africa and the Middle East, but Hibiscus Sabdariffa is also common in the Caribbean, where it is known as Flor de Jamaica and is mainly used to make a refreshing, thirst-quenching drink called Agua de Jamaica (and, of course, to make our concentrado).

How to make Jamaica concentrate

To make Jamaica concentrate, you will need:

• 3/4 cup of dried hibiscus flowers
• 4 cups of water
• 1 cup of sugar
• half a cup of brown sugar
• lemon juice or the zest of one lemon, finely grated
• a pinch of salt

We have listed only the main ingredients, which are more or less common to all recipes, omitting the spices used to flavour the syrup: these are usually cinnamon, ginger, cloves and/or star anise.

The method

Making Jamaican syrup involves just a few simple steps. Place all the ingredients in a large enough saucepan and heat over the hob, stirring to dissolve the sugar.
Once it comes to the boil, reduce the heat and simmer for at least ten minutes.
After this time, remove the pan from the heat and leave to rest for at least five minutes; the longer the ‘resting’ time, the greater the aroma released by the ingredients (so if you’ve got carried away and gone overboard with the spices, don’t leave it to rest for too long, as you might alter the taste of the final result).
Strain the mixture through a sieve to remove the flowers and spice residues, then transfer it to a glass jar or an airtight bottle.

You can store your hibiscus concentrate in the fridge for up to two months.