What is the official drink of Juneteenth?

Red Hibiscus Drink

Hibiscus flowers are native to West Africa, and hibiscus drink or 'tea' is a popular drink still made there today. It's been a part of Juneteenth celebrations since the beginning and it's tangy flavor comes to life when you boil the hibiscus flowers for about 10 mins and add ice and sugar to taste.

What is the Juneteenth drink?

18, 2022 Food & Drink. Listen 57 min MORE. Whether it's soda, Kool-Aid, or cocktails, “red drinks” are the official beverage of a Juneteenth celebration. With “Watermelon and Red Birds,” Nicole Taylor has written the first cookbook dedicated to the holiday.

What is one special drink often found at Juneteenth celebrations?

But no celebration would ever be complete without Red Drink. This beloved drink is a modern take on traditional African hibiscus ginger tea, and is often said to revitalize the mind, body and soul.

What food is traditionally served on Juneteenth?

Well first, since it's a warm weather celebration, Juneteenth food traditions often include cookout fare like barbecued meats, potato salad and fruity or frozen desserts. You'll also see lots of traditional soul food dishes like fried chicken, cornbread and collard greens.

How do you celebrate Juneteenth strawberry soda?

STRAWBERRY SODA METHOD

Add lemon lime soda to a pitcher filled with ice and a ¼ cup of lemon juice. Add homemade strawberry syrup and quartered strawberries & sprigs of mint. Stir together and serve. For more ways to celebrate Juneteenth in PA, check out the visitPA.com website.

Why Juneteenth Food Traditions Include Hot Links, Red Drinks and Dishes

What does red soda mean?

Red Sodas Are a Mainstay at Texas Celebrations Red soda water is as much a part of the Juneteenth celebration as are parades and barbecue. Tuesday is the Texas holiday that celebrates the liberation of black American slaves in Texas on June 19, 1865.

What is the significance of strawberry soda?

Strawberry soda is a common feature of the Juneteenth holiday as a nod to the celebrations of slaves in Galveston, Texas, who on June 19, 1865, learned they were free. Those celebrations, according to the Journal Sentinel story, included red food and beverages “to symbolize the blood that was shed by the slaves.”

Is watermelon a Juneteenth food?

Common red foods seen at Juneteenth celebrations include red soda or lemonade, red velvet cake, and watermelon. (Plus barbecue and great sides.) History offers several explanations why Juneteenth food is often red.

Why do we eat red food on Juneteenth?

The color red is said to represent the blood shed throughout enslavement, and some say it traces back to parts of West Africa where red drinks marked special occasions and red is symbolic of spiritual power.

Why is the color red associated with Juneteenth?

Red foods appear on Juneteenth tables, too.

Red symbolizes the bloodshed by enslaved ancestors due to the transatlantic slave trade, explains James Beard Award winner Adrian Miller, author of Black Smoke: African Americans and the United States of Barbecue.

How red food and drink joined the Juneteenth feast?

Food coloring came to preeminence in the late 1800s, and by the 1920s, red-colored carbonated drinks like the Texas-made soda Big Red became part of Juneteenth culinary tradition. Whatever the origin of each item on the Juneteenth table, collectively, they hold a lot of symbolic meaning.

What did slaves drink?

in which slaves obtained alcohol outside of the special occasions on which their masters allowed them to drink it. Some female house slaves were assigned to brew cider, beer, and/or brandy on their plantations.

What are the colors of Juneteenth?

The official Juneteenth flag was red, white and blue displaying that all American slaves and their decendants were Americans. However, many in the black community have adopted the Pan-African flag, red black and green. The colors represent the blood, soil and prosperity of africa and its people.

What does the Juneteenth flag look like?

The original Juneteenth flag was designed in 1997 by Ben Haith, activist and founder of the National Juneteenth Celebration Foundation. The flag has a blue and red stripe, a white star in the middle, an outline and an arc that extends across the width of the flag.

What are some traditions practiced on Juneteenth?

47 of the 50 U.S. states recognize Juneteenth as a holiday or special day of observance. A variety of traditions are associated with Juneteenth. These include rodeos, fishing, barbecuing, baseball, prayer services, festivals, story-telling by elders, and celebrating Black art and music.

How is Juneteenth traditionally celebrated?

For some, it's eating barbecue, shooting fireworks, gathering at a cookout and sipping on red drinks, a tradition that symbolizes perseverance and honors the blood that was shed of African-Americans. For others, it's shopping only at black-owned businesses, sharing history or resting at home.

What is red food?

Red foods consist of everything from fruits, including watermelon, strawberries, cherries, raspberries, apples; and vegetables like tomatoes, red peppers, red onions, and red cabbage. These colorful and tasty foods are gifts from nature.

Why is it called Juneteenth?

Juneteenth is a holiday commemorating the end of slavery in the United States. It is also called Emancipation Day or Juneteenth Independence Day. The name “Juneteenth” references the date of the holiday, combining the words “June” and “nineteenth.”

What flavor soda was once a popular drink associated with celebrating the day Juneteenth?

One of these drinks was strawberry soda, a beverage previously enjoyed by slave owners, one that slaves were prohibited from drinking. Drinking strawberry soda became an act of empowerment and rebellion and can be found in Juneteenth celebrations to this day. While you can find it bottled, I prefer to make my own!

What did the slaves eat?

Weekly food rations -- usually corn meal, lard, some meat, molasses, peas, greens, and flour -- were distributed every Saturday. Vegetable patches or gardens, if permitted by the owner, supplied fresh produce to add to the rations. Morning meals were prepared and consumed at daybreak in the slaves' cabins.

What is the name of the Juneteenth flag?

Many in the African American community have adopted the Pan-African flag to represent Juneteenth. The Pan-African flag is sometimes referred to as the black liberation flag and so it is often displayed in conjunction or in place of the Juneteenth flag. The Pan-African flag has been in use since 1920.

What alcohol did slaves drink?

Drawing on diverse West African cultural traditions of alcohol use, enslaved peoples in the Caribbean used rum as a key component of sociability and as a vehicle to the spiritual world. Rum drinking offered a momentary escape from harsh labor regimens and the general anxieties of life on sugar estates.

What did slaves do for fun?

During their limited leisure hours, particularly on Sundays and holidays, slaves engaged in singing and dancing. Though slaves used a variety of musical instruments, they also engaged in the practice of "patting juba" or the clapping of hands in a highly complex and rhythmic fashion.

How much did slaves get paid a day?

Let us say that the slave, He/she, began working in 1811 at age 11 and worked until 1861, giving a total of 50 years labor. For that time, the slave earned $0.80 per day, 6 days per week. This equals $4.80 per week, times 52 weeks per year, which equals pay of $249.60 per year.

What does red velvet cake have to do with slavery?

But the cake is an important part of Juneteenth parties, where red food is served ostensibly to symbolize the blood shed during slavery and in the Civil War. The June 19 celebrationmarks the date in 1865 when slaves in Texas found out they had been freed.