Red Drink: Is it the Same as Sorrell?

This Juneteenth, one of my least favorite first-world problems happened to me. I got an all-day tummy ache. That meant so shopping, no cooking, and the resident nurse out me on a bland diet for the rest of the day. All that meant my Juneteenth menu was post-poned until my gastrointestinal problems were gone and stayed gone.

I was on the phone with my sister the other day, telling her all about my trial runs to make a Red Drink. I could hear the eye-rolling in her voice as she told me I was talking about Sorrell. Which I wasn't. If I meant Sorrell, I'd have said Sorrell. I was talking about the precursor to Sorrell called Red Drink. A hibiscus drink with some spices like Sorrell, but much more like a floral light iced tea compared to it's holiday-esce counter part.

I had to pause for a second and think though. My sister's been around the block, the world, and she's older than me. I learnt about Red Drink, but in the same way you learn something new from scrolling through shorts. What if there was more to discover about the similarities and differences between the two drinks?

So that's my little June research project. Distinguish between Sorrell and Red Drink, while also making a recipe for Red Drink.

Trial one recipe for Red Drink

Full disclaimer, I measured with my eyeballs for the first trial. All the measurements here are approximations. If you're not a fan of eyeballing, you might wanna try trial two’s recipe.

Approx four cups of hibiscus petals

Three cinnamon sticks

1 teaspoon mace

1 teaspoon cardamom powder

2 tablespoons jaggery

Take a large pot and fill with enough water to quench a small dinner party. (approx 1 gallon)

Add the cinnamon, mace, cardamom powder and bring to a simmer.

Once at a simmer, not a boil, add the hibiscus petals. Steep for twenty minutes.

Strain the petals and solids out.

Sweeten with palm sugar or jaggery (basically the same thing) to taste.

The results of this recipe was a not very sweet, and very tannic drink with a strong hibiscus flavor. It made you pucker and some people like that. My local audience didn't even though I found it drinkable. I prefer less tannic drinks. If I steeped it less, that's exactly what I would have had. So I tried this theory with the spent petals and five minutes of steeping rather than twenty. The resulting drink was indeed less tannic, but also less punchy in the flavor department since the ingredients were already had been steeped once. It gave me hope for trial three.

I would like to recommend the following programs for anyone who was also searching for ways to celebrate Juneteenth in less exertive ways. I watched the following cartoon, sitcom, and historic videos with my significant other over homemade chicken noodle soup for my aching tum-tum.

Blackish Season 4 Ep 1: Juneteenth (Hulu)

Proud Family S1 Ep 15: I Had a Dream (Disney Plus)

Ted-Ed: What is Juneteenth and Why is it Important? - Karlos K. Hill and Soraya Field Fiorio (YouTube)

Josh Johnson: Juneteenth Explained to White People (YouTube)

My third trial was delayed due to an unfortunate loss of ingredients. A critical thing I have learnt is that when you share a fridge with another person, you need to not put anything hard to replace inside of it.

I was thrown threw a loop on when to call this iteration of Red Drink quits once I lost my cardamom supply. I'm picky about where I source my spices and am not ready to bite the bullet of having to make my drink without it for now.

Everything happens for a reason. While I could take this as a lesson that not everything goes how you want and I could make another batch without that spice, I choose instead to be stubborn and study what makes Red Drink Red Drink even more.

Online resources are great, but I also enjoy getting to get up close and personal with scholars findings. I visited Tallahassee, Florida as there are a few African-American museums near the city center.

Long story short, I learnt more about Court Justices than refreshing beverages.

I should've known the legislation nerd in me would take over. Once I got close to the State Capitol, I just had to visit. The current Capitol building is down for renovations. Across the pavilion is a museum capturing Florida's State Government's history in the old Capitol building. If you ever get the opportunity, I would encourage you to visit.

The building was very accessible for wheelchair users. There were scavenger hunts and activity stations throughout the museum for little ones to learn and play. There was audio tour you can access via your phone in lieu of a physical tour guide. I didn't look for their visitor lot. You'd likely have a much longer stay than me as I chose the thirty minute parking next to the current Capitol.

I'd tell you about the African American museums, but I had to skedaddle inside after lunch due to a thunderstorm rolling in. Florida weather can get pretty intense, so I wasn't taking my chances in the heavier rain.

Oh, also I tried dressed conch for the first time!

It was a small order of dressed conch for $12. I would like to note that you might get a little less than this when you order. The cashier and cook really appreciated my “Yes, Ma’am. No, Ma’am. Hi, Sir.” manner of talking (cause I'm in the South. Some people get mad at you if you don't talk like that in the South.) and the cook said he'd add extra in because I had manners. The container would barely close. I had never been to Conchman Conway LLC before, so I had to take their word for it. The dish wasn't familiar to me and that was a pleasant experience. It's rare for me to get an unfamilar food experience these days. It was acidic and sweet. Not sugar sweet. Like if ceviche had conch instead of shrimp and alot of peppers and sweet onions. It was veggie sweet. The conch was firm with a nice snap to it. The scent was strong, but like Italian dressing strong. Not fishy strong. I enjoyed the flavor, but overall the dish was too acidic for my belly. I'd love to look into how to eat it. It might be one of those foods you eat with something else to balance it out. For once, I can honestly say I have no idea how to eat this! I just picked up a piece and got to munching.

If I ever find myself in the area again, I'd like to try their shrimp. A fair amount of locals came after me and that's what they were asking for. Alas, it was sold out. If someone is willing to come up from South Florida and had to come to the truck for shrimp before they went back, I think it's worth trying for myself.

I'll continue to read up on Red Drink. Maybe we'll even get a part 2 to this article one day once I nail down a recipe. I wanted to share one article before I go. Penned by Sahar Khan in 2022, the article goes into the history of Red Drink and Sorrell.

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/a-brief-history-of-red-drink-180980046/

I live by an Old Uncle Iroh quote (Avater reference) that goes something like, get information from multiple sources. Otherwise what you know becomes stale and rigid. That's not the exact quote, but that's my interpretation of it's meaning.

I want to do more digging before I'm satisfied with my deep dive. Still, this article is a nice read for anyone curious like me.

I was so happy when I read the part about Kool-aid! One of the first thoughts I had about Red Drink is that it filled a similar spot in homes to Tropical Punch Kool-Aid. The misleading one in the Blue packet that's actually suuuuuuper red. Like, stain your shirt red.

Happy belated Independence Days. Juneteenth and Fourth of July. Also, happy shopping on all the clearance pride rainbow apparel.

Enjoy some bonus pictures from my visit to the capitol and the address for Conch man.

Conchman Conway LLC

2110 S Adams St, Tallahassee, FL 32310

Mon: Closed

Tues: 12pm - 6pm

Wed: 12pm - 6pm

Thurs: 12pm - 6pm

Fri: 12pm - 7pm

Sat: 12pm - 8pm

Sun: Closed

Not a physical building. Look for a Bright orange Food Truck.