Street Drink · Hibiscus Cooler
Bissap
📷 Closely related photo — Photo via Pexels/Unsplash — free for commercial use
The same tart red hibiscus that colors Dakar's street-corner drink also shows up, oceans away, as Jamaican sorrel and Mexican agua de jamaica.
Dried hibiscus calyces are steeped in boiling water with mint, ginger, and sometimes vanilla, then strained, sweetened, and chilled into a tart, deep-crimson drink. Street vendors in Dakar sell it ice-cold from coolers and small plastic sachets, especially during the heat of the day and to break the Ramadan fast.
Why it's made this way: Bissap's crimson color and sharp, cranberry-like tartness come purely from the hibiscus itself, and the drink is a fixture at iftar tables across Senegal because it rehydrates fast after a day of fasting.
Roughly what's in it
90kcal
0gprotein
22gcarbs
0gfat
Estimated per typical street-vendor portion — not lab-tested.
More from Senegal
Part of World of Street Food — 690 dishes from 118 countries.
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Photo credits.