A fun and refreshing drink to enjoy this summer is this Authentic Key Lime and Hibiscus Agua Fresca. Made with freshly squeezed lime juice, cane sugar simple syrup and hibiscus tea (jamaica), this agua fresca recipe is easy to enjoy for Cinco de Mayo or summer parties!
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As Cinco de Mayo was approaching and I was trying to think of a quick but delicious recipe that people could make (with no written recipe), I thought of doing a fun drink that had authentic Mexican flavors. I reached out to a friend of mine for the scoop on how to make agua fresca and he came back with “I don’t know… but we make this drink all the time!” And now this Authentic Key Lime and Hibiscus Agua Fresca has been immortalized for your enjoyment for Cinco de Mayo or throughout summer… believe me, this is going to be your summer drink for sure!
Where does Agua Fresca Come From?
Found in Mexico, the Caribbean, and Central America, agua fresca is Spanish for “fresh water.” This is such a blanket term from what I can gather from the research I’ve done to define if what was shared with me was an agua fresca.
The jist of making an agua fresca is a sugar and water mix, flavored with some kind of fruit or other flavorings. Some other well known Aguas frescas that are commonly seen in the states are Horchata (rice milk flavored with cinnamon) and Jamaica (hibiscus tea).
This particular agua fresca recipe is flavored with key lime and hibiscus! The key limeade recipe, itself, is very delicious but the whole drink changes once you add the hibiscus ice cubes!
Watch my Facebook Live video to see this drink made!
How to Make Agua Fresca di Limon (or Limeade)
This is rather simple but this key limeade recipe really shows off the authentic nature of this Mexican drink. This simple drink only contains:
- Key limes
- Hibiscus
- Cane Sugar
- Water
All of the ingredients I used in this agua fresca recipe were found in my local Hispanic market; they’ll have all of this stuff there, I promise!
With consulting my friend about this particular drink, and limeade itself, he said that they always used key limes. They have a much more tart flavor than regular limes which makes this drink so fun and which makes it such a great pairing to the floral notes of the hibiscus tea.
I will warn you, juicing enough key limes to get the amount you need for this agua fresca recipe is going to be a pain, but it is so worth it. They also have little seeds that you want to make sure that you strain before adding to the drink.
What makes this drink super authentic is the use of pure cane sugar to sweeten the drink. My friend said that they made a simple cane syrup (1:1 ratio of water to sugar) to make sure that the sugar fully dissolves in the limeade recipe. Guys, using cane sugar is such a huge game changer when you make drinks! It’s sweeter and has a more pure taste than our regular processed white sugar.
I used this simple cane syrup for both the limeade recipe, as well as my Jamaica (hibiscus tea).
How to Make Jamaica
Making Jamaica is super simple. It all consists of steeping hibiscus flowers in water that has come to a boil and allow to sit for at least an hour. I then strained those flowers from the liquid and add some of the simple cane syrup. You really could just drink that by itself as Jamaica but I totally wanted to take this limeade recipe up a notch.
Putting together Authentic Key Lime and Hibiscus Agua Fresca
Once you’ve steeped the hibiscus and added the simple syrup after straining, all you have to do is freeze the Jamaica into ice cubes.
Then the hard work starts of squeezing all of the key limes. But I promise that it is completely worth it!
After the limes are squeezed, time to add the simple syrup and adjust for taste. I ended up using all of my simple syrup and it still was quite tart!
Once the hibiscus tea is frozen, it’s time to party! I love drastically the drink changes when the ice cubes are added to the limeade. It’s stunning! And the color deepens if you give the limeade a bit of a stir! Not that you’ll really have to worry about this but this aqua Fresca recipe only really keeps for about 3-4 days since fresh citrus juice has a short life expectancy.
Some rockin’ recipes that you might consider enjoying this agua fresca with are
Chipotle Chicken Street Tacos
Shredded Pork Chile Verde
Mexican Street Tacos
Shredded Pork Chilaquiles with Eggs
I hope that you enjoy this recipe not only for Cinco de Mayo but all summer long! If you’ve really enjoyed this recipe, make sure to leave a rating with your comment down below!
Happy drinking!
A fun and refreshing drink to enjoy this summer is this Authentic Key Lime and Hibiscus Agua Fresca. Made with freshly squeezed lime juice, cane sugar simple syrup and hibiscus tea (jamaica), this agua fresca recipe is easy to enjoy for Cinco de Mayo or summer parties!
- 1 ½ cups fresh squeezed key lime juice about 3 pounds of key limes
- 2 cups water
- 2 cups cane sugar
- 2 ounces dried hibiscus flowers
- 1 cup water
- 1 cup can sugar
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In a medium sauce pot, bring water and can sugar to a boil. Allow sugar to completely dissolve before turning off the heat. Let simple syrup to cool before adding to lime juice.
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Add fresh key lime juice to a large pitcher and begin to add simple syrup. Taste when a cup has been added and adjust from there.
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Refrigerate immediately.
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Make simple syrup like for the limeade and allow to cool.
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Bring a medium sauce pot, full of water, to a boil. Turn off heat and add hibiscus flowers. Allow to steep for at least 30 minutes, the longer the better.
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To make ice cubes, pour hibiscus tea into ice cube trays and freeze until completely solid, about 6 hours.
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Add hibiscus ice cubes to tall glasses and pour limeade into the glass.
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