# Fruit tea without hibiscus: how to find a gentler cup

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**Source:** teas.co.uk, UK tea specialist, Tunbridge Wells, Kent

## Summary

If fruit tea always tastes too sharp, hibiscus is usually why. How to spot it on the label and what to drink instead for a softer, sweeter cup.

## Description

If every fruit tea you try tastes sharp, sour or drying — however briefly you brew it — the culprit is almost always hibiscus. It is the cheapest way to give a blend a red colour and a fruity tang, so it turns up in the majority of supermarket fruit teas, often as the first ingredient.
Hibiscus is genuinely tart. It is not you, and brewing it for less time mostly just makes it weak as well as sour.
Spot it on the label
Hibiscus hides behind several names:

hibiscus
hibiscus flowers or petals
roselle
sometimes simply "flowers" in a vague list

Ingredients are listed in descending order by weight, so if hibiscus is first or second, that tang is the backbone of the blend, no matter which fruit is on the front of the box. Rosehip is often alongside it and adds its own sharpness.
What to drink instead



If you want
Look for




Sweet and mellow
Rooibos-based fruit blends: rooibos is naturally sweet and never sour


Gentle and honeyed
Honeybush, apple, and blends built on chamomile


Fruit flavour without acidity
Fruit-flavoured green, white or black tea (the fruit is aroma, not acid)


Something clean and refreshing
Peppermint or spearmint with a slice of apple


Warm and comforting
Apple with cinnamon, or a spiced rooibos



Rooibos is the most reliable swap: it gives body and a natural sweetness that most people find easier than hibiscus, and it is caffeine-free like the fruit teas you are replacing.
Or tame the hibiscus you already own

Brew it cooler and shorter: 90°C for 3 minutes rather than boiling for 6.
Cut it with apple: brew a hibiscus blend with an apple or rooibos bag together.
Add a little honey at the end rather than sugar; it rounds the edges.
Drink it iced. Cold blunts the acidity, and hibiscus makes a superb iced tea.

More on the ingredients in fruit tea explained and hibiscus tea. For a sweeter base to explore, see rooibos tea.
When you are shopping

Turn the box over before you look at the picture.
Read the first three ingredients: they are most of the blend.
If hibiscus or roselle is in them, expect tartness.
If the list starts with apple, rooibos, honeybush or a named fruit, expect something rounder.

Common questions
Is hibiscus bad for you?
No, this is a taste question. Hibiscus is a normal food ingredient.
Why is it in everything?
Colour and tang, cheaply. Without it many fruit blends would be pale and thin.
Are "berry" teas always hibiscus?
Not always, but very often. Check the list.
Does adding milk help?
Not with a hibiscus blend: the acidity can curdle it. Choose a rooibos-based fruit tea if you want milk.

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