Red Tea (Rooibos Tea)

 The appropriately named rooibos draws its name for the plant’s rich reddish tinge. There is a lot more to it than good looks however, as you will see from the rest of this article!

 Rooibos (pronounced "roy-boss") is the Afrikaans word for "red bush". Its scientific name is Aspalathus linearis, and it is a broom-like member of the legume variety of plants that is used to make tisane or herbal tea. Most often called South African red tea or simply red tea or bush tea, rooibos has been popular in South Africa for many centuries and it has since made its way to many other countries around the world. Rooibos is sometimes spelled “rooibosch” in keeping with its Dutch etymology, but "roy-boss" is still the correct pronunciation regardless.

 The growing of rooibos is restricted only to a small area in the Cederberg region of the Western Cape. The leaves of the plant are oxidized, and not fermented, as it is often thought. This process results in the familiar reddish-brown color of rooibos and serves to enhance the flavor. There is also an unoxidized form of tea produced called "green" rooibos, but it involves a far more demanding production process that makes it considerably more expensive than the traditional red rooibos.

 While rooibos is generally drunk plain in the rest of the world, it is typically mixed with milk and sugar in South Africa. Rooibos tea is often characterized as having a sweet flavor even without the addition of sugar and it also exhibits a slightly nutty taste. The method of preparing rooibos tea is basically similar to the preparation of black tea except that in this case, the flavor is improved by brewing it longer. This results in rooibos’ familiar reddish brown color, which also explains why it is commonly referred to as "red tea".

 In recent years, many coffee shops in South Africa have begun to serve what is called “red espresso”, which is actually a concentrated form of rooibos served in the same manner as ordinary espresso, which is of course coffee-based. This has given rise to the popularity of many different rooibos-based variations of coffee beverages, among them red lattes and red cappuccinos.

 Rooibos actually has a number of nutritional and health giving properties and this is why it has become quite popular to tea drinkers in the Western countries. These health-conscious tea drinkers are attracted to rooibos’ high level of antioxidants (among them aspalathin and nothofagin), the lack of caffeine, and its relatively low tannin levels when compared to black tea or unoxidized green tea. "Green" rooibos actually has a higher level of antioxidants than fully oxidized rooibos.

 Although rooibos was mentioned in historical accounts as far back as 1772 when botanist Carl Thunberg first wrote about it, the Khoisans had actually used it for many centuries primarily for its medicinal properties. Black tea was also quite an expensive commodity for the early Dutch settlers to the region since it was brought over by supply ships from Europe, making rooibos a more affordable alternative.

 It wasn’t until after the 19th century when the Dutch begun to drink rooibos in increasing numbers. In 1903, a Russian settler to the region named Benjamin Ginsberg, who was descended from a long line of tea growers, saw the potential of rooibos as a commodity and began purchasing it in large quantities from the local Khoisan people. He branded it as "Mountain Tea" and sold it to settlers in the Cape and shortly afterwards, exported it to other countries using resources that were available to his family’s tea business.

 The commercial cultivation of the plant began in earnest in the 1930s, when Ginsberg went into partnership with Dr. Peter Nortier, who was a local doctor and Rhodes scholar. The first plants were cultivated by Nortier at Clanwilliam on the Klein Kliphuis farm, which was under the ownership of a retired magistrate named W.T. Riordan.

 There was actually considerable difficulty in obtaining the tiny seeds of the rooibos originally, since they tended to disperse as soon as the pods were cracked open. When this happened, the seeds would not germinate without scarring. Dr. Nortier had to pay local farmers to collect seeds for them, and an elderly Khoi woman was one of his main providers. This woman had found an unusual source for rooibos seeds, by following a line of ants that were carrying seeds back to their nest. She then broke open the nest, found the store of seeds contained inside and regularly brought Nortier matchboxes filled with seed rooibos seed for which she was paid a shilling each.

 Nevertheless, Dr. Nortier’s attempts to cultivate rooibos seeds ultimately resulted in success, and Ginsberg then began to encourage local farmers to cultivate the plant as a profitable cash crop for the region. Klein Kliphuis subsequently became a tea farm, and in the space of ten years the price of rooibos seeds rose to an astronomical £80 per pound, making it the most expensive vegetable seed in the world market.