The Rooibos Story

The rooibos plant, or Aspalathus Linearis is indigenous to the Cedarberg Mountains, which is 200 km north of Cape Town, South Africa. This aromatic shrub, which is a member of the legume family, grows on the mountain slopes, plateaus, plains and valleys. Many centuries ago, this tea plant was well known to the people of the native Khoisan tribe; used by these ancient folk as an herbal remedy for a wide range of ailments. But as their people whittled away, the herbal lore of Rooibos was forgotten.

After botanists discovered the plant in 1772, generations of South Africans simply enjoyed it for its sweet, refreshing taste; unaware of the startling powers this wonder of Nature possessed. It was Annique Theron who rediscovered its magic. In 1968, this South African mother stumbled across its ability to soothe and calm her baby, relieving the infant of colic and insomnia. Amazed by its natural healing potential, Annique went on to investigate and document its health-promoting properties as a caffeine-free, low-in-tannin tea. Not just for babies, but for allergies and ailments across a broad spectrum of age groups.

In March 1996 Dr. Charlene Marais obtained a doctor's degree in chemistry from the University of the Free State, South Africa, for which she has dedicated her research to Rooibos tea. The most important conclusion one can reach from her study is that Rooibos is not only harmless, but definitely beneficial in certain areas. During the past few years, Rooibos tea has become the favourite beverage of thousands of people across the globe. Most of these people are convinced or believe that the drink is beneficial to their health.

Some of these presumptions are now scientifically supported by Dr. Marais' academically founded research. Her study entailed the isolation of metabolites from Rooibos tea and the subsequent consultation of literature to determine the physiological activities of the isolated compounds. She was supported and aided throughout by her supervisor, Dr. Kobus Steenkamp and supervisor Prof. Daneel Ferreira, head of the Chemistry Department at the University of the Free State. Below is a summary of their findings.

Why Rooibos is good for you:

The Processing of Rooibos

The tea is planted in July and August in the Southern hemisphere winter and is harvested from December until May the following year. About 95% of all the tea crops are still cut by hand with a sickle, making it a very labour intensive process, for the coarse structure of the plant still pose certain restrictions on full mechanization. The top half of the plant is cut leaving it standing about 45 cm.

From the fields it is transported with tractors to the barn where the leaves and stems are cut with either roller cutters or normal tobacco cutting machines. The tea is then spread on the tea court about 30 cm thick and covered with sheets to allow for the oxidation, or "sweat process" to occur. It is during this process that the tea turns in just a few hours from the green shrub it was in the field to a deep dark red colour. This is usually done overnight and the following morning it is thinly spread on cement courts to allow for solar drying, which usually is no longer than 3 days. This oxidation phase is probably the most critical process and has to be carefully monitored for it has a tremendous influence on the quality of the tea.

After the solar drying process the tea is screened to remove most of the stems and any debris. Various screen sizes are used to sort and grade the tea, depending on the eventual use and client specifications, ranging from a very coarse and rough grade, to Choice Grade to much finer and pure Superior Grades. Before any packing or shipping may take place though, the tea is laboratory tested by the South African Agricultural Board, to declare is hygienically suitable for human use.

Honeybush

Honeybush is a unique Southern African plant growing in areas ranging from the Southern to Eastern Cape, with some species growing in parts of the Cederberg Mountains. In the wild there are 23 species of honeybush that grow, however only two are used in the commercial production of honeybush tea, Cyclopia Intermedia & Cyclopia subternata. The first grows in the high mountainous areas of the Eastern Cape and the latter in the Southern Cape lowlands.

In spring time the honeybush has an attractive yellow flower and is heavily honey scented. It grows to about 1.5 meters high and prefers fairly moist conditions.

Honeybush tea, strangely enough, has been in use by the local population longer than rooibos tea, with recorded history dating back to the 18^th century.

Unlike rooibos tea, which is produced mostly in commercially planted crops, honeybush tea grows 99% wild, with the first experimental crops planted in 1996. Since most of the honeybush tea grows wild in the mountains of the Southern Cape, it calls for some interesting harvesting methods. The only access to the plants is on foot and the workers use carry bags to collect their harvest. An ingenious pulley system is used to convey the tea from the top of the mountain to a lower area, which is accessible only with tractors and trailers or off road vehicles. A wire is spun from high in the mountain to the base and then the cut tea is bundled into harvesting bags, hooked onto a pulley and then takes a ride down the mountain, where it is put on the trailer and then transported to the processing area on the farm.

The tea is cut wet with an old tobacco machine, after which it is fermented and dried under controlled and hygienic conditions, either under the hot African sun or mechanically. Until recently most tea was made the "natural way", but the process and quality is more difficult to control, so the majority of honeybush destined for export is mechanically dried.

The health claims around honeybush tea have recently gotten some backing with scientific research and published reports. Not only does honeybush taste delicious, but it also good for you! Here are a few reasons why honeybush is for you:

Honeybush is caffeine free and contains very little tannin.

Honeybush is very soothing drink and has a calming effect on the central nervous system.

Honeybush eases constipation.

Honeybush can be topically applied to the skin for rashes and irritations.

Honeybush is rich in minerals such as: Iron, Potassium, Calcium, Copper, Zinc, Magnesium, Manganese and Sodium.

Yerba Mate “For Mind, Body and Soul”

There is an old Guarani Indian legend that relates the origin of the Guarani in the Forests of Paraguay. According to the legend, the ancestors of the Guarani at the time in the distant past crossed the great and spacious ocean from a far land to settle the Americas. The found the land both wonderful yet full of dangers; through diligence and effort they subdued the land and inauguarated a new civilization.

The Guarani tribes worked the land and became excellent craftsmen. They looked forward to the coming of a tall, fair-skinned, blue eyed, bearded God (Pa’i Shume) who, according to legend, descended from the skies and expressed his pleasure with the Guarani. He brought religious knowledge and imparted on them certain agricultural practices to benefit during times of drought and pestilence as well as on a day-to-day basis. Significantly, He unlocked the secrets of health and medicine and revealed the healing qualities of native plants. One of the most important of these secrets was how to harvest and prepare the leaves of the Yerba Mate tree. The Mate beverage was meant to ensure health, vitality and longevity.

In the early 1500’s when the Spaniards were searching for riches at the base of the Amazon, they discovered not their longed for gold and silver, but the vigorously healthy tribe of Guarani. The natives welcomed them and encouraged them to drink an unfamiliar beverage that was regarded with high esteem by the tribesmen. Famished from their travels, the Spaniards immediately felt the invigorating effects of Yerbe Mate and its ability to nourish the body and the mind.

Mate (ilex paraguariensis) is an evergreen member of the holly family. It grows wild in Argentina, Chile, Peru and Brazil, but it is most abundant in Paraguay. Among the native Guarani, the natural use of Mate for healthful purposes has persisted. They use it to boost immunity, cleanse and detoxify the blood, tone the nervous system, restore youthful haircolour, retard aging, combat fatigue, stimulate the mind, control the appetite, reduce  the effects of debilitating diseases and eliminate insomnia. Mate contains over 190 active compounds, including Vitamins A,C, E, B1, B2, and B complex, iron, potassium, manganese, chlorophyll and amino acids.

Mate Friendships

Mate is more than just a good drink for the body; it is good for the soul. Drinking it can be a form of meditation or reflection – allowing the goodness to infuse into the body while stimulating and resting the mind. But this wholeness does not always happen alone.

In traditional Mate use, the cup, or gourd which is called a calabasse is often shared among close friends and family – using the same straw, or bombilla. Those who share the Mate cup join in a kind of bond where the sharing of the health and meditation of the Yerba Mate is a sign of total acceptance and friendship.

In Argentina and Brazil, fellow gouchos or farmers, knit together by the taming of a wild land, will share Mate around a camp fire to enhance their baonds of companionship. In Buenos Aires it is common to find close-knit families or lovers, or two or three best friends sharing a Mate on an outing to a local park or beach.

In all these places, when an individual or group finally offers to include you in their Mate sharing, it should be taken as the highest possible compliment and entered in with great appreciation.

In a traditional Mate sharing event, there is one person who pours the hot water and serves up the cup. At a party of close friends, this person is often the host. At outings or at home, this responsibility may change from one sharing to the next.

Generally the server will start a new infusion and then take the first drink. He or she will drink all the water in the Mate cup, taking several good long sips until air is heard coming through the bombilla. Once done, the server will again fill the cup with hot water and hand it to the next drinker, who will also drink the entire contents of the cup before handing it back to the server. The cup will once again be filled and handed to the next person, who does the same. This process will continue, going around the circle many times, until there is no flavour left in the infusion.

Before using your calabasse for the first time it must be cured. To do this, fill the calabasse approximately half full with Mate. Fill with hot water and let sit for 48 to 72 hours. Your calabasse will then be ready to use.

Never use soap to clean your calabasse. Rinse it with hot water after use and let it air dry. To clean the bombilla simply rinse it with hot water. The bottom of the bombilla can be removed for cleaning if necessary.

It is best to drink Mate or one type of tea in your calabasse. Foreign flavours may become trapped in the calabasse and alter the taste of the Mate or tea.

Japanese Green Teas

Green tea is the predominant tea beverage consumed throughout Japan today. There are many kinds available. Early season sencha, the new season tea or shin cha, are generally regarded as the best of each year’s crop, and different regions compete on quality and seasonal availability. There are also those special occasion teas such as gyokuro, (a rarity and extravagantly priced); houjicha - a roasted tea and very much an evening drink; and the famous ceremony beverage, a powdered tea called maccha.

Gyokuro or jade dew is actually selected from a precursor grade known as ten-cha and is regarded as the highest grade of tea made in Japan. Seen very much as a luxury, and rare commodity, the gyokuro teas are made only with the limited first flush leaf in order to achieve a rich and round flavour with a delicate, pale lemon-green colour. Gyokuro is grown in the shade for approximately twenty days before harvesting is commenced. Removing direct sunlight in this way has the effect of reducing leaf photosynthesis, which alters the proportions of sugars, amino acids, flavanols and other substances responsible for tea aroma and taste. Gyokuro tea is generally sweet and delicate in flavour, as well as having a soft palate texture. It makes an excellent light evening tea.

Sencha, literally meaning, ‘roasted tea’, pertains to the past processing methods used to make this most popular of all Japanese green tea. Today, sencha is initially steam treated before further processing with hot-air drying and finally pan-frying. Over three quarters of all tea now produced in the Japanese tea gardens is in fact graded as sencha, a tea selected for its pleasant sharpness and fresh qualities complementing a leaf of high uniformity and rich emerald colour. However, the flavour, colour and general quality of sencha is highly variable, and depends not only on origin but also season and the leaf processing practises locally employed. It is well known that later harvests of sencha have more bitter qualities, a more robust flavour and generally less aroma. Furthermore, the leaf of late season teas is generally less uniform. Much is said of the shin cha, the earliest becoming available in April in the south of Japan, and sold because of its high vitamin content, sweetness and superior flavour. Most regions make a number of kinds of sencha, which are named according to the kind of processing used. Sencha is the tea most likely to be offered in a Japanese household or restaurant. Certainly sencha is starting to appear outside of Japan in food stores, specialist food shops and even supermarkets. The higher grades of sencha are available from some tea merchants, but the best teas remain largely unobtainable.

Matcha is powdered or ground tea. This is the well-known powdery green tea of the Japanese Tea Ceremony (Chano-yu). Maccha is regarded as a ‘heavy’ green tea by the Japanese, but in fact it can be prepared as a strong (koicha) or weak tea (usucha) depending on the way it is made. Quite often the best maccha is used for Chano-yu, and the bitter end to the tea ceremony shocks the uninitiated who attend such gatherings. Usucha is very easy to make, simply add hot water and stir, to give a kind of ‘instant’ tea. No prior knowledge of Chano-yu is needed. Maccha has similar origins to gyokuro, i.e. an early season, high grade, shade-grown tea. After steaming the maccha leaf is comprehensively stone ground to a light and fine green powder. The tea is rich in amino acids, vitamins, and minerals and high in caffeine and catechin antioxidants (the latter being a consequence of the very small particle size of the processed leaf). The highest grades of maccha have more sweetness and deeper flavour than the coarser teas of later harvests. The most famous maccha-producing region is Nishio in Aichi (on the main island of Honshu). This tea is specifically referred to as Nishiocha. Good ceremony teas are very hard to find outside Japan.

Kukicha or stalk tea. Also called stick tea owing the long thin shape of this leaf-stalk blend. The tea is made by collecting the stalk fractions of gyokuro and sencha and processed to an emerald leaf and pale green stalk blend. Kukicha is strictly made from stalks produced by harvesting of one bud and three leaves. The leaves go on to make gyokuro and high graded sencha. The main characteristics of Kukicha are its light flavours, and fresh, green aroma with a very light yellow-green colour. In fact for Kukicha, the thinner and less green the infusion; the higher is the quality of the tea. For the best stalk tea, the flavour is considered to be as good as highest quality sencha. Inexpensive and an enthusiasts tea, rarely seen outside Japan.

Bancha meaning common tea and possibly a reference to the coarser grades and heavier, late season crop from which this full-flavoured tea is made. Bancha is made from larger leaves than are usually available for sencha grades. However, it should be made clear that bancha are generally seen as other kinds of sencha which are harvested as a second flush tea between summer and autumn. It should be said that bancha usually lacks the delicate sweetness of quality sencha. Nevertheless, bancha is respected because of the tea’s well-defined character, vivid yellow colours and refreshing and deep flavours. The strength of flavour held by many bancha means that they go well with food. Becoming more widely available in the West owing to the lower price of these green teas.

Houjicha a pan-fried or oven roasted green tea commonly encountered in teashops throughout Japan. Houjicha holds very little bitterness, they also tend to be aromatic teas as well as being light on the palate and quite refreshing. Both bancha and Kukicha are used to make houjicha grades. The tea is fried at high temperature, the leaf colours then alter from green tints to red, and the roasted flavours are extracted and predominate. The main types of houjicha are light and deep-fried. As expected, the deeper fried leaf produce teas with a deeper roast aroma and taste. Houjicha infusions have a distinctively clear red appearance (as distinct from hongcha) and are reputedly low in caffeine as well as catechin antioxidants. The clean, roasted flavours of houjicha go with any kind of food, particularly oily foods, and is often appreciated as an after-dinner tea. Inexpensive, but rarely encountered in the West.

 Genmaicha or roasted rice tea is a blend of bancha green tea and Genmai (roasted rice grain). The flavours of Genmaicha, are a melange of the green tea and the roasted rice. The roasted aroma of Genmai teas has the effect of lightening the bitterness of the lower grade sencha. The proportioning of tea to rice is important, the more aromatic Genmai teas have a higher amount of rice. Other blends are known including maccha and Genmaicha. Moreover, the tea can be infused with high temperature water and for longer infusion periods than most Japanese teas. The Genmai teas are seen as a modest source of vitamin B1 and like bancha and houjicha contain less caffeine. Genmaicha can be drunk late into the evening without fear that it will disturb sleep. A very common beverage in Japan, manufactured by most tea producing regions. Many travellers who have spent some time in Japan also know the tea.