Dried hibiscus substitutes

The closest flavour match on a normal supermarket shelf, tart and red from the same kind of fruit acidity.

Best for

karkade, agua de jamaica, iced tea, syrups and cocktails

Cranberry is the right family of sour: fruity, slightly astringent, clean. The differences are that cranberry is rounder and less puckeringly sharp, so the drink tastes gentler, and the colour lands as a deep pinkish red rather than hibiscus's near-magenta. Because even unsweetened juice carries fruit sugar, cut the recipe's sugar by about a third and taste before adding more. Avoid cranberry juice cocktail, which is already sweetened and will make an unbalanced drink.

Not really a substitute so much as the same ingredient under a different label.

Best for

karkade, agua de jamaica, sorrel drink, hibiscus syrup

Turn the box over and read the ingredient list. If hibiscus is first, which it very often is in red herbal blends, you have exactly what the recipe wants. The caveats are that teabag contents are finely cut, so they release faster and can turn astringent within five minutes, and the blend usually carries rosehip, apple or orange peel alongside, which makes the drink slightly rounder and more fruit-punch-like. Steep off the boil for five minutes rather than ten and taste early.

The build-it-yourself route, supplying the acid and the colour from two separate ingredients.

Best for

agua de jamaica, iced summer drinks, granita and sorbet, cocktail mixers

The most reliable way to hit both jobs with pantry staples. What changes is character rather than balance: citrus acid is bright and clean where hibiscus is fruity and tannic, so the drink tastes crisper and less complex, without that drying grip on the tongue that karkade has. The pomegranate contributes the tannin and a good part of the colour. A tablespoon of beet juice deepens the red further if you want it dramatic, and it does not taste of beet at that dose.

A dried, ground souring spice for the times hibiscus is used as a tart seasoning rather than a drink.

Best for

spice rubs, marinades, salad dressings, sprinkling over grilled meat

Some Mexican and Middle Eastern recipes grind dried hibiscus into rubs or fold it into sauces for sourness and colour, and sumac does that job cleanly. The differences are visible and tasteable: sumac is brick-brown-red rather than magenta, its acidity is lemony and slightly woody, and it carries none of hibiscus's jammy berry note. It is also less soluble, so it seasons the surface of food rather than colouring a whole liquid. Do not use it to make a drink; it goes cloudy and gritty.

A store-cupboard stand-in that extracts colour and tartness the same way brewing hibiscus does.

Best for

hot karkade, sorrel drink with ginger and cloves, compotes, poaching liquid

Works better than you would expect for a hot spiced drink, and the technique is identical: steep, strain, sweeten. Most dried cranberries are sweetened with sugar or apple juice, so the result is noticeably sweeter and less sharp, and you should hold back most of the recipe's sugar until you taste. The colour is a warm ruby rather than magenta, and there is a faint raisin-like depth that hibiscus does not have. Fish out the softened berries and eat them.

A very sour tropical fruit pulp, for the acidity job when colour does not matter.

Best for

agua fresca, savoury sauces, glazes, chutneys

Only worth using when what you need is depth of sourness, because the visual is completely wrong: tamarind is brown and turns a drink the colour of weak tea. The flavour is sour in a molasses-and-date direction, richer and less fresh than hibiscus, which some people prefer in a sauce or glaze. In Mexican drink recipes agua de tamarindo sits happily next to agua de jamaica, so if you are making a jug of something cold this is a legitimate change of plan rather than a compromise.