Beverages · Good Food · Rooibos · Tea Time · Your Health

Rooibos – Part II

GF-Chopstix

Are you sitting down, enjoying a healthy cup of Rooibos tea? No? Well, you should be. This tea is a vibrant burnt-orange / red colour, and although the flavour may take a little getting used to (if you’re not familiar with herbal teas), it is such a healthy, tasty beverage.

In part II of my series about the herbal tea, Rooibos, I discuss how to make a good cup (or mug) of tea. Enjoy!

Here are a few ways I like to drink Rooibos:

To get the most flavour out of Rooibos tea leaves, it is best to leave it to steep  for a few minutes. Some tea drinkers don’t like the strong flavour or smell of tea that has been left to steep for a while, and so, they will just dunk a teabag into boiled water, and then drink it.

However, to get the most out of the health benefits (I listed them in my fist post), of Rooibos, it is best to leave it to seep for 3 – 5 minutes.

  • Prepare a kettle of boiled filtered water
  • Once boiled, pour a little into a teapot and rinse
  • Place one  teabag per cup into the pot
  • Pour the boiled water over and leave to steep for 3 – 5 minutes
  • The colour will change from a light orange to a deep amber colour
  • Pour into teacups
  • Drink and enjoy!

What you will need:

To make a ‘normal’ cup of Rooibos, you won’t need all that is in my photo.

wmrooibostable

Making a lekker pot of Rooibos tea (using a teabag)

  1. Place a Rooibos tea bag into a teapot (or cup or mug)
  2. Pour over boiling water
  3. Leave to steep for 3-5 minutes
  4. Drink and enjoy!
Teabag in teapot
Teabag in teapot
Pour tea into teacup
Pour tea into teacup

To make lemon Rooibos tea

  1. You will need a few slices of fresh lemon (lemon juice is not a good substitute)
  2. Make tea as above, then add a slice of lemon to your cup
  3. You can leave the slice of lemon in the cup and refill, or eat it and take another slice!
Fresh lemon and Rooibos
Fresh lemon and Rooibos

Milk and Sugar

Some tea drinkers enjoy a cup of tea with the works – sugar and milk.

  1.  Honey actually goes very well with Rooibos, and I personally think, is far better than sugar, but I’ll let you decide that one.
  2. Add any milk of preference. I use non-dairy.
Milk and honey Rooibos
Milk and honey Rooibos
A touch of Vanilla
A touch of Vanilla

How to make a spicy mix

Some like it hot! If you are looking to spice up your tea, then all you need to do is grind these ingredients together, either in a blender or use a mortar and pestle.

What you will need:

  • Cloves
  • Cinnamon
  • Peppercorns
  • Ground ginger
  • Aniseed
  • Rooibos leaves
Spice Mix
Spice Mix

To make the tea:

  • After grinding these ingredients together, either place into a French press or tea strainer and pour boiled water over.
  • Leave to steep and then drink.

13 thoughts on “Rooibos – Part II”

  2. wow your a rooibos expert, now I am saving this to my scrapbook because i definitely want to refer to this one again. I think I need to go out and buy some plain rooibos as well as the teapigs with caramel, which are by the way delicious.

    So my next question do you have a brand of rooibos that you recmomend and also with using non dairy which do you think is the nicest non dairy alternative to go with it?

    Thank you for joining the Tea Time, this is fab and so many options I would never have thought of, love it love it hehe..big thumbs up!!!! xxx

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    1. hahaha! Not so sure about being an expert, but thanks for your kind words, Justine 🙂

      I’ve noticed that the ‘gimmicky’ brands seem to be the easiest to find, and most popular, rather than the plain tea leaves. Oh, which brand? Wow, that is a tough one! There are so many to choose from these days. It also depends on how much you’re willing to pay for a pack, since it isn’t cheap, unless you buy it in South Africa, of course.

      I’ve tried a few brands, and cannot actually remember all of them , sorry :/ Lipton is well known, and if you are able to get your hands on brands like Vital, or Freshpak, they’re also good.

      It’s really a versatile tea – you could add so many different flavours to it.

      I’ll look out for the caramel one!

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      1. I do prefer leaves to bags generally but these tea pigs are good hence over £3 to buy a pack.

        I will go in to Waitrose and see what they have or maybe I should try online but then you are never sure what you might end up with 🙂

        Cant wait to try it x

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  3. You inspired me to Google this tea. Now I really think I’d like to try it. I’m going to look for it this weekend. I’ll bet I can find it at one of the natural foods stores pretty easy. Thanks for sharing 😉

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  5. What a great and knowledgeable post. I absolutely love Provence Rooibos and have been drinking it for about 3 years. Believe it or not , we have an actual English Tea Room here. When I drink my Rooibos tea, I add a few drop of Rose water and lemon. During the summer I drink it cold from the frig, I know, probably a sacrilege to you but it’s dang hot here in the summertime.

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    1. Hi, thanks for your comment. So happy to hear that you too enjoy Rooibos 🙂 hahaha! Well, actually, in the summertime, an iced Rooibos drink is wonderfully refreshing. Rose water AND lemon sounds interesting.

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