Rooibos: the guide to choosing and preparing “red tea”

Where rooibos comes from

Rooibos (Aspalathus linearis) grows in only one region in the world, the Cederberg mountains, north of Cape Town. The young branches are cut, chopped, moistened and left to oxidise in the sun: they turn from green to brick red, hence the Afrikaans name “red bush”. Green rooibos is the same plant, dried immediately without oxidation: lighter, more grassy, rarer.

It is not Camellia sinensis, so not a tea in the strict sense, and it contains no caffeine. Its plain flavour recalls dry wood, honey and a hint of vanilla.

Plain rooibos, flavoured rooibos

Plain is the starting point. Rouge Tea (€11 per 100 g) is Mariage Frères' plain red rooibos, woody, rounded, honeyed; Rooibos Vert (€11), unoxidised, is the grassy alternative, with a lighter liquor.

Flavoured rooibos makes up the vast majority of the range: Mariage Frères applies its tea flavours to rooibos. First the fruity and floral ones, Marco Polo Rouge (€13), its Rouge Sublime version (€19), Rouge Opéra (€16), Rouge Provence (€16), Rose Tudor with rose petals (€19). Then the gourmand ones, Rouge Bourbon with vanilla (€14), Rouge Pleine Lune with almonds (€16), Nil Rouge with citrus and vanilla (€15). And the house classics, transposed: Rouge Earl Grey with bergamot (€13), Rouge Casablanca with mint and bergamot (€14), Chaïwallah Rouge with spices (€29 per tin), Rouge Sahara with mint and rose (€16).

In a tea tin, to give as a gift: Midnight in Paris, Bel Ami, Tarte Tatin from the Héritage Gourmand collection, and in December Noël Amour rooibos. In cotton muslin tea sachets, Rouge in Love, vanilla strawberry and rose petals.

How to prepare rooibos

• Measure: 2.5 g per 200 ml, or one heaped teaspoon per cup, or 12 g per litre.
• Water: 95 to 100 °C. Rooibos tolerates boiling water, unlike green teas.
• Time: 5 minutes, like a black tea. No risk of bitterness if you go beyond.
• Iced: 10 to 12 g per litre of cold water, overnight in the fridge. The fruity rooibos, Marco Polo Rouge or Rouge Opéra, are made for this.
• As a latte: steeped strong, then topped up with hot milk or plant-based drink; Rouge Bourbon with vanilla and Chaïwallah Rouge with spices suit it best.

Which one to choose

• New to rooibos: plain Rouge Tea, or Marco Polo Rouge if you already love Marco Polo.
• For children: Rouge Bourbon with vanilla or Rouge Pleine Lune with almonds, gentle and caffeine-free.
• In the evening, after a spicy meal: Rouge Casablanca, mint and bergamot.
• As a gift: a tea tin, Midnight in Paris or Tarte Tatin.

Storage

As with tea: an opaque, airtight tin, away from kitchen spices. A plain rooibos keeps for two years without losing flavour; a flavoured or fruit rooibos loses its fragrance after about a year.