How do you make the west Indian Sorrel drink?

Answer 1

Buy sorrel, either fresh or dried (fresh is better, but you can order dried sorrel over the internet from anywhere).

Buy ginger root (generally about the same by weight as the sorrel flowers, sorrel basically always "needs more ginger").

Rinse/clean sorrel with cold water (very important; I forgot to do this once and it gave the sorrel a bad stainy taste).

Rinse/clean ginger, then beat/cut up ginger (to release flavor).

Fill large pot with water, boil water.

Remove water from heat, add sorrel and beaten ginger, cover with aluminum foil, let stand 1-3 days, 2-4 hours if you're in a hurry. But I've done both and it's noticeably better after days of soaking versus a few hours.

The ratio of sorrel to water should be nearly to the point where the sorrel flowers have to be stuffed into the water and you can barely add anymore (maximum concentration).

Strain into final container; coffee filters over a strainer work nicely here, my grandmother used a clean cloth in a strainer. I strain twice (optional).

Sweeten to taste (with granulated white sugar if you have it; even though white sugar isn't very common in Jamaica), it requires alot of sugar since it starts out bitter. You can water it down a little if you over do the sugar.

Optionally, add a healthy volume of rum, either directly to the final container, or on a glass by glass basis (which is what I do).

The above is what I know of as the Jamaican variant, the other West Indian islands where sorrel is drunken call for nutmeg, cinnamon, and/or all-spice (pimento); and apparently some of these recipes leave out the ginger too. The Jamaican variant is a more fruity refreshing drink versus the spiced southern Caribbean variants.

Sorrel can also be made without the gingerroot. A drop of Angustura Bitters can be added giving a great flavor along with some Trinidad rum (optional) to those who do not drink either way it is a good drink.