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About Rooibos Tea

The most popular beverage around the world is undoubtedly coffee. Not surprisingly, the second most popular one is tea. Rooibos tea, which is a recent entry into the world of tea, has been rising in popularity for the past couple of decades.

The word Rooibos is an Afrikaans, a language spoken in the southern region of the African continent. In the original language, Rooibos is actually a combination of two different words — “roy” and “bos”. In English, this means “red bush”. It is not surprising as the rooibos plant is actually a shrub that is red in colour. And until a century ago, people didn’t know much about the amazing properties of this shrub. Read this article to find out more about rooibos tea. Having a better understanding of them will help you make the right choices when you are making the purchase.

A beginner’s guide to Rooibos tea

Botanically, Rooibos is a member of a family of herbs. Therefore, it has various medicinal properties. What gives Rooibos similar to tea leaves is the presence of a compound known as tannin. This element that is also present in regular tea is responsible for the ‘waking-up’ effect that you get when you drink tea. But tea also contains caffeine, while Rooibos does not have any caffeine. How an unknown wild shrub is becoming a popular household item is very interesting to look at. This article will tell you everything you need to know about rooibos plants and rooibos tea.

History of rooibos tea

The regular tea, which is the leaves of the Camellia sinensis tree, has its origins in Ancient China. But unlike that, rooibos tea was first found in South Africa by the Dutch sailors. Later they found out that the needle-like leaves of this can work as a substitute for the expensive tea leaves; they are importing from China. However, it was not marketed as a product to the general public until the beginning of the twentieth century. But since then, it has only been rising in popularity across the world. In the last couple of decades, researchers have figured out that Rooibos leaves also have some amazing health benefits as well, which makes it all the more attractive.

Harvesting rooibos plant

Rooibos plant grows only in a small region in South Africa. In this region, called Cederberg, Rooibos grows everywhere like a wild shrub. It doesn’t even need any effort either. However, if you are trying to farm it elsewhere, it is going to be a really tough task. And not really worth the effort. The season in which Rooibos grow the most is when the sun is the hottest during the summer months. In Cederberg, this is between February and March. But after harvesting these shrubs, farmers cut and dry the leaves. If these dried leaves are kept away from the moisture, it won’t go bad for a really long time.

Health benefits of rooibos tea

These days, most people who replace their regular tea with rooibos tea do it for the health benefits of rooibos plants. Even though some people make it sound like Rooibos is some kind of a magic plant that can cure almost all kinds of ailments, a few of these claims actually have substance to it. Firstly, rooibos tea does not contain caffeine. This means that they are not harmful to health even if you consume four or five cups of rooibos tea in a day. Moreover, Rooibos is also a rich source of antioxidants and minerals. The anti-inflammatory components of the plant can actually help in improving the functioning of the heart in older people.

Side effects of rooibos tea

Just like most other herbs, Rooibos can have some negative effects if you consume too much of it or if you have any pre-existing health condition. While antioxidants in Rooibos is beneficial in moderate amounts, having too many antioxidants can be harmful. Doctors advise patients who take hormonal medications against drinking rooibos tea. Apparently, some compounds in Rooibos can mess with hormones and can potentially lead to problems. Similarly, breastfeeding mothers should also avoid taking Rooibos because it can reach the body of the infant through breastfeeding.

Tips on how to buy Rooibos Tea

Not all rooibos tea out there are the same. Firstly, tea can differ when it comes to quality. But other than that, there are different types of rooibos rubs, and moreover, the processing of the leaves can also be different. So, how do you make sure that the one you are buying is the right one for you? Well, to do that, you need to know what factors to consider while shopping for rooibos tea. Here are some tips that you can follow so that you can be sure that you are buying the right one.

Quality – Everybody knows that they have to ensure the quality of the product regardless of what you are buying. But how do you check the quality of Rooibos without actually brewing it? Good quality leaves tend to be long and sharp towards the ends. Also, don’t buy tea that contains too many stems. The rooibos leaves should be intact and should not be crumbled.
Tea bags vs Loose-leaf – Similar to regular tea and herbal tea, Rooibos also come as both tea leaves and tea bags. One thing that is common for all kinds of teas is that loose leaf tea always produces better teams than tea bags. Tea Bags is more about convenience. Therefore, in an office setting, you might not have enough time to brew tea using loose leaves.
Green Rooibos vs Red Rooibos – Rooibos leaves come in two colours: green and red. They are not grown on separate plants though. In fact, the green leaves undergo processing to produce red leaves. In this process called oxidation, the green leaves are crushed and pressed under a roller. Then the crushed leaves are left to dry. After the drying process, the leaves will turn red.
Plain vs Flavoured – You can have more flavours than just plain Rooibos. You can find Rooibos that contain a variety of different flavours including, various fruit flavours, berries, herbs like ginger, peppermint, lemon, and whatnot. However, flavoured rooibos leaves usually cost more than the plain ones.

Besides rooibos tea, there are plenty of other tea varieties that you can try. You can start your day with the energy boost from a black tea or an aromatic herbal tea. If you like the raw taste of real tea leaves, then try the unprocessed flavours of a cup of white tea. But the best part of all this is that you can find all of them easily using our shopping search engine. That way, you can also compare different products and their prices. Also, don’t forget to check out other amazing products from the Food & Beverage category.

Question & Answer

Is rooibos tea good for pregnancy?

Coffee and tea are among the things that one should avoid during pregnancy. But for whom coffee and tea have been an integral part of their daily life, quitting them all of a sudden can be a bad experience. But you don’t need to worry because you can replace it with something even better. Unlike regular tea leaves, rooibos leaves are rich in nutrients and minerals. Also, they are completely caffeine-free. In case you don’t like the plain taste of Rooibos, you can try any of the different flavours or even try a different type of brew altogether.

Is rooibos tea caffeine-free?

The reason why health-conscious people art ditching their tea-drinking habit for Rooibos is that the latter does not have any caffeine in it. Even though a moderate amount of daily caffeine intake is safe, completely avoiding them is an even better strategy. That being said, Rooibos does have another psychoactive compound called tannin. When you compare the amount of tannin in one serving of Rooibos to one serving of regular tea, the tannin level will be much lower in the case of Rooibos. Another undesirable element in regular tea is oxalic acid. Rooibos, on the other hand, does not contain oxalic acid at all.

Can you add milk to rooibos tea?

There is no one right way to drink rooibos tea. Rather you can brew it in your own style based on your personal preferences. You can have your Rooibos with milk or without milk. But the great thing about Rooibos is that there are plenty of other options as well to try. Choose from any of the rooibos flavours like lemon & ginger, vanilla, earl grey tea, or green Rooibos. Another question that people often have is whether or not to add sugar. This one also comes down to personal preference. If you don’t want to add sugar, you can use honey as well.

If you are looking to buy rooibos tea online in the UAE, look no further as you are in the right place. There are more than 500 shops and brands offering them here on Shops.ae. These shops offer products from brands like Tetley, Twinings, Lipton, Numi, Pukka, TWG, and Ahmad Tea.