Zobo (Hibiscus) mocktail & cocktail

Zobo a.k.a zoborondo!!! I can’t be the only one that knew it as ‘’zoborondo’’ growing up! 😁 Amazing memories! I would go behind my mum’s back to buy zobo in school! She called it dirty zobo 🤢 but no way! I still bought it and it was difficult to hide that I drank it because of the blue lips and blue tongue 🙈. But the rumors surrounding the school zobo ehn!! It was rumored that the woman used her blood in making the zobo! 😳 Another rumor was, the woman used water from the toilet in making the zobo! Lawd!!

Sometimes I wonder who really started all these rumors when we were kids!! Was it kids that thought these things up? Or was it the adults?? Definitely doesn't sound like adults to me. There’s one I can never forget. This was during the period HIV was the newest killer disease. Everyone was talking about HIV, it was all over the news, comedy skits and even we the kids heard about this new killer disease. I was in primary 3 then and that was how we were told, ‘’somebody said’’ we should not eat a particular sweet again because it had AIDS!! 🙊 Someone even got the sweet and opened it and showed some dent on it and said, look at it! That’s the AIDS!! 😂🤣

Anyway, I digress! I sha drank my fair share of zobo during my student life. Now I can make it in the comfort of my home and I’d love to show you how easy and simple it is. Also, you’d be amazed at the different ways you can play with your zobo and use it to create fancy drinks and even desserts. I love cooking it with spices like cinnamon and cloves which adds a nice flavor to it. I have used the leaf to make Hibiscus tea with some ginger and honey and because I bake a lot I’ve played around with zobo in my pastries! So you see, there’s a lot you can do with Zobo!! 💁🏽Let’s get started with a zobo mocktail and cocktail!

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Ingredients

3 to 4 cups of zobo leaves (Hibiscus leaves)

4 cups of water

Pineapple skin or peel

2 oranges

1 medium lemon

1 tablespoon of cloves

2 to 3 sprigs of mint

2 Cinnamon sticks

Sugar as needed

Sprite (for mocktail)

Whiskey or vodka (for cocktail

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Directions

1. First of all, rinse the leaves before putting to boil in a pot. Add the water.

2. Bring to a boil in a pot with the pineapple skin, oranges (cut in half), mint leaves, the sticks of cinnamon and cloves.

P.S. Try not to use too much of mint leave else the taste will resemble that of toothpaste! 😬

I used just this much.

3. Let it simmer on low heat for 10 minutes. Turn off the heat, allow it sit for 10 minutes before you strain.

4. After straining, while still warm add your sugar.

5. When it has cooled down, pour into your jug and chill in the fridge.

6. Time to serve! I usually squeeze the juice of an orange into the glass then add the ice cubes.

7. Pour in your zobo three quarters full, then top off with some sprite. I learned this tip from where I used to work. If you like a more tart drink like I do, you can squeeze half a lemon into your zobo or top off with Schweppes bitter lemon instead of sprite! This is our mocktail.

8. To turn this into a cocktail, add some whiskey, rum, or vodka! The measurement is up to you! Be responsible! 😉