Rooibos tea
In latter years rooibos tea health benefits have propelled the tea beyond the tea.
Full of antioxidants and flavonoids the plant’s extracts are used in shampoos, rejuvinating products and a host of other cosmetics products.
Calming and refreshing it is indicated for all kinds of health problems. Nausea, constipation, stomach cramps, insomnia to name just a few. Highly commanded in situations where caffeine and or tannine intake are not recommended. With its strong taste and aroma it is particularly indicated in pregnancy to women who find it difficult to give up tea or coffee.
Only in recent year has rooibos achieved its deserved fame. With inventions like red espresso a healthy alternative to coffe
e which expresses the full body and aroma of coffee without the ill effects of caffeine and with a very high amount of antioxidants.
History
Rooibos tea. A delicious concoction, a golden-red beverage consumed for centuries by the
Southafrican Khoi tribe. It has been discovered by the westerners only in the seventeenth century.
A swedish botanist Carl Thunberg observed the natives of the Cape area making tea from a plant harvested in the surrounding Caderberg mountains. The plant was called red bush and later rooibos.
The plant’s fine leaves were cut, rolled into bags and transported into the valley with the help of donkies. The leaves were than chopped and bruised on rocks and left to dry in the sun. The dried leaves were then brewed much like tea or coffee in hot water to obtain sweet red drink with a strong aroma. It would then be used as a casual drink and to aleviate many ailments.
The tea was quickly adopted by the Dutch colonists as a replacement for black tea which was already an expensive as it relied on trade from Europe.
In the early twentieth century a russian settler Benjamin Ginsberg exploring the Cape mountains rediscovered the red beverage and the many uses the natives had for it. Being fascinated with the tea he ran a host of experiments perfecting the harvesting and fermentation of rooibos. When he discovered the potential market for the tea he gave locals incentives to cultivate the plant on their farms. His bet payed off.
The rooibos market became one of the most lucrative spice businesses of the time. Since then rooibos tea grew in popularity. It is also mentioned in Alexander Mccall Smith’s detective novels The No.1 ladies Agency as Mma Ramotswe’s favourite drink - the red bush tea.
