West Africa · Drink
Bissap (Hibiscus and Mint Infusion)
A deep ruby, tart, and floral chilled tea infused with fresh garden mint, pineapple peel, and fragrant vanilla essence.
The story
In Côte d'Ivoire, bissap is the undisputed queen of roadside refreshment, poured from condensation-beaded plastic sachets in Abidjan traffic and ladled from massive coolers at weddings. Inherited through centuries of Sahelian and coastal trade, the infusion relies on the fleshy sepals of Hibiscus sabdariffa (locally called karkadeh or dah). Master home cooks boil the calyces directly with fragrant pineapple rinds to impart natural sugars and mellow the piercing oxalic tartness inherent to dried hibiscus blossoms.
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