What is Rooibos?

Also known as "red bush", "bush tea" (especially in South Africa) or "red tea", Rooibos is a tisane ("herbal tea") made from the leaves of a small shrub grown in South Africa. The name comes from the Afrikaans language's "n Rooi Bos" and literally means "a red bush". Sometimes, it is spelled "rooibosch," from the old Dutch etymology, and in South Africa the dried 'tea' is often called 'rooibostee'.

Rooibos is known for its taste, its health benefits and its unique origins.

What Does Rooibos Taste Like?

Rooibos is known for its woody, sweet, nutty flavor. Green rooibos has a more vegetal, herbaceous flavor than red rooibos. Because rooibos has a naturally sweet flavor, it is often used in so-called "dessert teas."

Types of Rooibos

Most rooibos is oxidized and known as "red rooibos," though rooibos is also available "green" (unoxidized). When rooibos is used in flavored teas and blends, it is frequently mixed with ingredients and flavors like chocolate, vanilla, caramel and fruits for a sweeter taste. Organic and non-organic rooibos is widely available in many countries.

The Rooibos Plant

Rooibos is harvested from the leaves of the "red bush" plant (scientific name Aspalathus linearis, generic name Calicotome villosa). The red bush plant currently only grows in the biodiverse shrublands outside of Capetown, South Africa, known as the fynbos. It is a broom-like evergreen shrub with green, needle-like leaves.

Red bush is a member of the bean / legume family and it usually reaches 1.3 to 3 feet in height. 

Rooibos Processing

Rooibos processing roughly parallels that of green tea (which is unoxidized) and black tea (which is oxidized).

Green rooibos is basically just harvested, cut and dried immediately. This prevents the leaves from oxidizing, thus retaining a more vegetal, herbaceous flavor and green color.

To process red rooibos, first whole rooibos branches (which appear broom-like) are harvested, Next, the leaves and stalks are finely chopped. Then, they are bruised and left to oxidize under the hot African sun. During this drying process, the leaves and stalks change from green to a deep, rich red-brown color. After it is dried, it may be toasted for a richer flavor.

History of Rooibos

Rooibos has been a popular drink around the world for over a decade, but its history is much longer.

It appears that rooibos was first drunk by the indigenous Koisan tribe of South Africa. Traditionally, local people would climb the shrubland hills to cut leaves from wild rooibos plants. Then, they rolled the bunches of leaves into burlap bags and transported them down the hills on the backs of donkeys. The leaves were chopped with axes and bruised with hammers, and then left to dry in the sun.

As the numbers of the Koisan tribe dwindled, rooibos and its production nearly disappeared. However, during the 17th and 18th centuries, European travelers and botanists visiting the Cederberg region in South Africa began to take notice of the abundance of "good plants" (i.e., medicinal plants) growing there. In 1772, Swedish naturalist Carl Thunberg observed that "the country people made tea" from a plant related to rooibos or redbush, but it wasn't until slightly later that botanist Karl Humberg rediscovered rooibos in the late 18th century.

Still, rooibos production wasn't developed much until Benjamin Ginsberg, a Russian/Jewish settler to the Cape, became obsessed with the wild plant and its processing. Beginning in 1904, he ran a wide variety of experiments at Rondegat Farm to find an ideal processing method for the leaves. Eventually, he simulated the traditional Chinese method of making Keemun black tea (or Qimen red tea), fermenting the tea in barrels, covered in wet burlap to imitate the effects of woven bamboo baskets in Keemun processing.

Rooibos cultivation began later, in the 1930s. At the request of Ginsberg, local doctor and Rhodes scholar Dr. Le Fras Nortier began to experiment with cultivation of red bush. Dr. Nortier cultivated the first plants on what is now the Klein Kliphuis guest farm in Clanwilliam. However, he was running into problems with getting enough seeds to germinate, as the diminutive seeds dispersed as soon as their pods cracked, so they were difficult to gather, and even after being painstaking gathered by locals, the seeds would not germinate without scarifying. Dr. Nortier noticed something strange that led him on in his cultivation of rooibos--an older Khoi woman sold him far more seeds than other locals, and it turned out she was able to collect so many because she had found an alternative to scrounding around for them. She had discovered that ants gather the seeds and drag them back to their nests, where they store them in a sort of granary. She simply harvested the seeds from the granary, letting the ants do all the work for her. This discovery enabled Dr. Nortier to get enough seeds to make rooibos cultivation into a profitable venture, and to make Klein Kliphuis into a rooibos farm.

During the 1940s, the price of rooibos seeds rose to an astonishing £80 a pound, making it the most expensive vegetable seed in the world at that time. (Today, the seeds are gathered by a sifting process, and are much cheaper!)

Over time, rooibos grew in popularity in South Africa, especially amongst the Dutch, who saw it as an alternative to black tea (which was very expensive to import at the time).

Similarly, rooibos began to reach other countries when wartime embargoes blocked the importation of black tea.

Since the 1990s, rooibos has become widely available in the worldwide market. A growing number of brand-name tea companies sell rooibos on its own and / or in blends. This increase in popularity is largely due to growing recognition of the health benefits of rooibos.

Does Rooibos Have Caffeine?

Some people call rooibos “red tea,” thus creating confusion over whether or not it contains caffeine. Like most (but not all!) other herbal "teas," rooibos does not contain caffeine. For more information, see "Is Rooibos Decaffeinated?"

Because it does not have caffeine, rooibos is considered to be safe for young children and other caffeine-sensitive people to drink.

Health Benefits of Rooibos

Rooibos has a wide assortment of health benefits. Traditional South African medicinal uses of rooibos include alleviating infantile colic, allergies, asthma and skin problems. Modern science has explored other benefits, such as effects on HIV, cancer and Type 2 diabetes.

Green rooibos has a higher concentration of vitamins and minerals oxidized rooibos. You could say that it may be "healthier" than red rooibos for this reason. However, I always say that the "healthiest" tea or herb is the one you drink every day, so if you love the taste of red rooibos and don't like green rooibos, by all means, drink red rooibos!

For more information on the specific benefits of rooibos, read "Rooibos Benefits".

Is Rooibos Safe to Drink During Pregnancy and Nursing?

Rooibos is considered to be quite safe for nursing mothers, pregnant woman and infants to drink. Personally, I would recommend opting for organic rooibos.

How to Make Rooibos

Unlike most teas, rooibos benefits from a long steeping. The longer the leaves remain in hot water, the more flavorful and rich the infusion becomes. Many people steep rooibos in freshly boiled water for five minutes or more. Personally, I find seven minutes to be ideal.

For more ways to make rooibos, see the recipes linked below.