Rooibos & Honeybush Tee
Rooibos from Africa
Also known as Bushman tea by the locals, rooibos is a South African tea, which is obtained from the needle-like branches of Aspalathus linearis (red bush) and only in the cedar mountains of South Africa (these are approx. 200 km north of Cape Town), around the cities of Clanwilliam and Citrusdal is grown. The Rooibusch plantations lie on the sandy soils in the valleys of the Olifants, Breede and Hex Rivers. The young twigs are harvested, then cut, crushed and grated. Then they are watered and dried in the hot South African sun. This creates the intensely sweet and fruity aroma known for the rooibos and its rich deep red-brown color.
Around 1900 the wild shrub was discovered on the mountain slopes of the Cedar Mountains and a short time later the sale of this "mountain tea" by the Russian immigrant Benjamin Ginsberg, whose family can look back on a cross-generational tea trade. The doctor and botanist Dr. Petter le Fras Nortier began researching rooibos tea for the first time around 1930 and began to cultivate the rooibos shrub with local farmers and to breed other varieties and then grow them commercially.
Around 1900 the wild shrub was discovered on the mountain slopes of the Cedar Mountains and a short time later the sale of this "mountain tea" by the Russian immigrant Benjamin Ginsberg, whose family can look back on a cross-generational tea trade. The doctor and botanist Dr. Petter le Fras Nortier began researching rooibos tea for the first time around 1930 and began to cultivate the rooibos shrub with local farmers and to breed other varieties and then grow them commercially.
South African honeybush
The honey bush, also honey bush, is a close relative of the rooibos. They thrive on the southern tip of South Africa and have been cultivated since the beginning of the 17th century. Like the rooibos tea, the Honneybusch tea is caffeine-free and therefore suitable for the whole family. Only a little of this honey-sweet tea is exported, which is why the rooibos is still the more famous tea today. In spring, the honey bushes smell of sweet honey aroma and shine in a bright yellow. During this time, when the aroma and color are most intense, the honey bush is harvested and processed. The wild, uncultivated shrub is carefully harvested every three years so that the natural habitat is protected and preserved. Since the fermentation takes place naturally, the sweet aroma and deep orange to red color can be intensified.
