Hibiscus Powder

Hibiscus sabdariffa, also called roselle, is believed to have originated in West Africa and is now grown across Africa, South and Southeast Asia, the Caribbean and Central America. What goes into this powder isn't the flower petal — it's the calyx, the fleshy red sepal structure that swells around the seed pod once the petals fall.

That single part of the plant has built entirely separate culinary traditions in different regions: karkade in Egypt and Sudan, zobo in Nigeria, bissap in Senegal and Burkina Faso, and sorrel across Jamaica and the wider Caribbean, where a spiced sorrel drink is a Christmas-season staple. The calyx carries a notable concentration of vitamin C and anthocyanins — the flavonoid pigments responsible for both its deep ruby color and its tart, cranberry-like flavor. Naturally dried and finely milled, it's used today much the way it always has been: steeped as tea or a cold infusion, stirred into mixed drinks and smoothies, or used as a natural red coloring and tart flavoring in food.