Rooibos Tea Info

Browse all Teavana Rooibos Teas.

Rooibos teas are a naturally sweet and sometimes nutty herbal tea made from the South African Red Bush and is often referred to as Red Tea or African Red Tea.  The rooibos tea processing method involves harvesting the red bush leaves, followed by grinding and bruising of the leaves. Then the rooibos is left to ferment and dried to yield a reddish brown needle-like tea.  Green rooibos tea does not have a fermentation step and thus has a lighter taste than red rooibos teas.  Both varieties of rooibos tea are caffeine free.     

History of Rooibos Tea

In 1772, Swedish botanist Carl Thunberg found the people of the Cape of South Africa were making tea from local plants, specifically, the rooibos plant.  By the 1900s, settlers of the Cape refined the curing process to make African red tea, employing similar methodologies of green tea processing.  Soon after cultivation of rooibos red bush tea spread throughout South America and more recently, has broken into the American tea market for its unique taste and health benefits.

The Best Rooibos Teas

The best rooibos tea really depends on your taste.  Red and green rooibos tea can be blended with many flavors to create a perfectly healthy and delicious cup of tea.  One of the best flavored rooibos teas is Blueberry Bliss Rooibos Tea.  A fruity delight loaded with superfruit blueberries. Perfect with a touch of our Rock Sugar.  For a more flowery blend, there is Rooibos Tropica Rooibos Tea. It's a long-time favorite containing red rooibos tea and green rooibos, strawberry, peach, sunflower and cornflower petals, and orange peel. For a spicier taste try Tulsi Dosha Chai Rooibos Tea, another one of the best rooibos teas. Featuring the legendary Tulsi spice, it is an ayurvedic blend that will wake up your taste buds! 

Rooibos teas can be mixed with other herbal teas for a more fruity flavored tea.  Or, blend rooibos with loose white tea or green teas for a more complex flavor and extra health benefits. One of the best rooibos teas for blending is Apple Lemon Pomegranate Rooibos tea. Mixing it with Imperial Acai Blueberry White Tea creates a healthy, fruity green rooibos tea blend full of vitamins. View all Teavana Rooibos Teas and find your favorite flavors.

Rooibos Tea Preparation

Making rooibos tea is very similar to preparing any other herbal tea.  1.5 tsp of rooibos tea should be added for every 8 oz cup of boiling water.  The rooibos tea should steep for 5-6 minutes.  If left to brew longer, the rooibos tea should not become very bitter, as this type of tea has steeped for days in some South African households.  Many rooibos teas also taste great as an iced tea.  To make rooibos iced tea, just double the amount of tea used, steep at the same temperature and for the same length of time, then pour the tea directly into a glass full of ice.