Rooibos comes from the rugged slopes of the Western Cape Mountains in South Africa. In 1772, botanist Carl Humberg discovered that the locals of the Cape’s Cedarberg region made a sweet tasting "tea" of the indigenous "red bush" plant. They picked the stems and leaves, bruised them with hammers, left them in piles to ferment, and then dried them in the sun. Traditionally drunk by the region's Khoi peoples, the infusion tastes like black tea yet has no caffeine, is low in tannin, and is packed with vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants.

Rooibos was first commercially harvested and sold in 1904 by Benjamin Ginsberg who marketed it as "Mountain Tea." During the 1930s, the well-known Dr. P. Le Fras Nortier realised the value of the wild resource as an agricultural crop and developed new and improved methods of cultivation. Rooibos production rose during WWII when demand increased due to the scarcity of Ceylon tea. Today, Rooibos is a strong, agricultural industry in South Africa.

Rooibos is harvested from needle-like leaves and stems of Aspalathus linearis after the standard tea processing procedures of fermentation and drying. The leaves are originally green and then cut, bruised by rollers (to encourage fermentation), watered, fermented, and sun-dried. Rooibos is steeped in the traditional manner (3-5 minutes) and can be drunk with a spot of milk, sugar, lemon, or honey.

This blend is one of eight in our Rooibos line, along with Namaste, Earl Grey Rooibos, Hazelnut Rooibos, Piña Colada Rooibos, Organic Rooibos, Organic Vanilla Rooibos and Organic Tangerine Rooibos – all naturally caffeine-free and full of antioxidants!