True tea is prepared from the cured leaves of the tea plant, Camellia sinensis. Rooibos is not a true tea, but a member of the legume family. When you brew Rooibos the result is, strictly speaking, a herbal infusion (known as a tisane). This matters if you are a tea aficionado - but as far as most people are concerned it is Rooibos tea.

The vibrant reddish amber color of Rooibos develops naturally during the post-harvest oxidation process.  This is often referred to as “fermentation” but this term is slightly misleading.  It does not involve microbes like the fermentation of alcoholic beverages - it is caused by an enzyme called polyphenoloxidase. 

Rooibos is unique and rare.  It grows wild in the Cederberg Mountains a couple of hours north of Cape Town – and nowhere else.  The hot and dry summers, winter rainfall and coarse sandy soil are ideally suited to the Rooibos plant.

The indigenous people have used it to brew tea for as long as anyone can remember.  In more recent times local farmers attempted to cultivate it as a crop.  This proved exceedingly difficult but they eventually succeeded.  This combination of distinctive ecosystem and specialist knowledge means that all the Rooibos in the world comes from one tiny community in South Africa’s Western Cape. 

“Roy-Boss”.  Easy!

If you would like to see our fun video on the correct way to pronounce Rooibos then click here. 

Yes, totally. It contains no colourants, additives or preservatives.

No.  Despite its naturally sweet taste it’s totally sugar free and has no calories or kilojoules. 

It rather depends on your own personal preference.  The standard method is to steep your looseleaf Rooibos tea in boiling water for 4-5 minutes.  Leave it in the water for longer to create a stronger and more flavorful beverage.  It is much lower in tannins that regular tea so a longer brewing will not produce any bitter aftertaste. 

Yes, you can drink a cuppa, put your strained leaves back into the pot and then top it up with more boiling water.  You can do this two or three times – it’s a cuppa that keeps on giving!  

This is a matter of personal taste.  Rooibos is naturally sweet so you don’t need to add sugar.  But some people do prefer to add sugar or maybe honey.  Again, adding milk is a matter of personal preference.

Yes, just brew as normal and then chill it.  Or cold brew it (see below).

You just steep some Looseleaf Rooibos in a pitcher of cold water for about 12 hours in a refrigerator then enjoy as delicious iced Rooibos. 

Same process as cold brewed but you leave the pitcher in the sun for a couple of hours, then chill or serve with ice.

Basically it is Rooibos served with hot milk – a great bedtime treat as it’s caffeine-free.  There are different variations you can try but basically you brew a couple of teaspoon of loose leaves in a small cup of water that’s just boiled.  Let it steep until you have a strong concentrate.  

You might (according to taste) add sugar, honey or maple syrup.  Maybe add some cinnamon or vanilla essence.  Add hot milk (you can froth it if you like) to your tea concentrate using a 1:1 ratio to ensure that the tea flavor stays strong. 

Yes, yes, yes!  You’ll find some very tempting Rocktail ideas if you visit our blog.

Absolutely.  It adds an extra depth of flavor to a wide variety of recipes from roasts to cakes and desserts to bread.Check out our blog for recipes that rock!  

You bet!  Just use your imagination or whet your appetite with the smoothie ideas on our blog.

Green Rooibos comes from the same plant but is just processed in a different way.  The oxidisation stage is missed out, so rather than turning redder and sweeter it retains its green color and grassy mineral-like flavor.

Rooibos provides income and employment to more than 5000 people in the Cederberg region.  The annual crop earns an estimated R500 million per year.  Most Rooibos farms provide housing and schooling for the local people who work on the Rooibos farms. 

What’s more, the industry as a whole pays 1.5% of the value of each year’s crop to the indigenous Khoi San people who used the plant for hundreds of years before it began to be cultivated on a large scale.  This payment usually amounts to roughly $650,000 a year.

Organic Rooibos is grown without the use of any artificial fertilisers or pesticides. The organic status of the product is monitored by various international organizations that provide organic certification.  Rooibos Rocks is certified organic and non-GMO by the US Department of Agriculture.