I could never be anything else other than a Yardie…

@FanAttick

Pepsi or Coke may soon take over the production of the Sorrel drink as people become more health-conscious! Jamaica is sleeping as per usual.

Out here (West Coast) Sorrell is known as J(H) amaica. Yardies who went to work on railway lines in Costa Rica and the canal in Panama propagated it. It and Tamarind juice are everyday and restaurant drinks among Mexicans especially. Tons of dried sorrel in Mexican stores

Hurricane Melissa might have wiped out more than 90 per cent of Jamaica’s sorrel crop, but at least one local company had the foresight to stockpile the product in anticipation of increased demand for Christmas.

Learning from the experience of Hurricane Beryl last July, Trade Winds Citrus Limited (TWCL) decided to secure sorrel early in the year to ensure sufficient supply.

“For several years we have been buying a lot of sorrel after Christmas and throughout the year because the demand always exceeds supply the closer we get to Christmas. Melissa has devastated the sorrel crop. Thankfully we have been buying sorrel throughout the year to ensure adequate supply for our beverage needs,” TWCL managing director Peter McConnell told The Financial Gleaner.

The company produces a range of drinks under the Tru Juice brand, but McConnell noted that sorrel is the best seller only in December. Sorrel drink is a traditional Christmas beverage made from the roselle plant, a type of hibiscus that produces a crimson-red accessory fruit. The brewing process involves steeping the fruit in hot water to extract its juice, then adding sugar, ginger, pimento, and, if preferred, white rum to enhance the flavour.

According to the Economic and Social Survey of Jamaica produced by the Planning Institute of Jamaica, the country produced 837.7 tonnes of sorrel in 2024.

@XDFIX

Properly dehydrated petals can last forever and can be almost as hard as wood chip.