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Rooibos, or Red Bush in Aficans, is rapidly growing in popularity throughout the world due to it's great taste and the amazing health benefits. The source of Rooibos tea (Aspalathus linearis) is a native of the Western Cape of South Africa. The needles of this shrub turn red when when fermented, and the brewed needles were first drank by the native Khoi people of the Cape.
The Khoi's magic cup of tea is no longer a secret. There is currently a boom in the popularity of Rooibos that is spreading around the world. This naturally caffeine-free cup is most popular in Germany, the UK, the US and Japan with more than 15,000 tons of Rooibos leaves brewed each year. The health conscious world has made this simple red bush a 23 billion dollar a year industry and still growing. Where else can you get the antioxidant equivalent and possibly even more so than green tea in a caffeine-free, smooth cup? 
Here are the top 5 benefits of Rooibos:
1) Rooibos contains quercetin. A powerful antioxidant that helps prevent heart disease, many forms of cancer and is an anti-inflammatory.
2) Rooibos contains aspalathin. A rare antioxidant that reduces stress and helps regulate blood sugar, protecting against diabetes and slows fat production.
3) Rooibos contains nothofagin. Another rare antioxidant that is an anti-inflammatory that helps reduce the risk of Alzheimer's disease.
4) Rooibos is very popular with pregnant women as it is an anti-spasmodic. Drinking Rooibos while you are pregnant soothes the stomach and lowers stress which is key for proper neurological growth for the fetus. It is also given to infants with colic to help reduce symptoms.
5) Recent studies in Japan show that drinking Rooibos help reduce the symptoms of many seasonal allergies.
Rooibos has a delicate, sweet taste. We've found that it blends very well with spices and preserved fruits and we use Rooibos as the base of several of our super popular tea blends such as Gingerbread Chai and Lemon Meringue Pie.
If you're a regular reader of this tea blog, the past month's posts have taken you to Spain, Hawaii, Britain, and my grandparents' dining room table. Next up: Israel.
I spent several months living and traveling in Israel last year. and I came home hooked on Middle Eastern favorites like just-baked pita, falafel (deep-fried balls of mashed chickpeas, usually served
with hummus), and halvah (a melt-in-your-mouth sesame candy). But if there's one thing that can transport me to that foreign place in the blink of an eye, it's the tea that I drank almost daily: Rooibos with cinnamon and vanilla.
This tea blend is not a notably Israeli one, nor is it particularly popular (as far as I know). I saw it on a shelf, tried it, and got hooked. It's created a quirky memory highway which I consider wholly mine - there just can't be many other people who also happen to associate this unassuming tea with this ancient, beautiful, and long-disputed land.
When I small this tea, I instinctively breathe it in deeply, slowly. My shoulders relax. When I sip it, I smile. This tea is unhurried. It doesn't conjure up hammocks and palm trees specifically, but it clearly brings me to the mellow mindset of a lazy, blue-skied afternoon.
Israelis, if you're wondering, usually drink stronger stuff, like mud-thick Turkish coffee. And the tea drinkers are crazy about black tea with mint - which is available bagged, but is best if you grab a fresh "nana" (mint) sprig or two for your mug. (Now there's a delicious idea I'm suddenly itching to revisit...)
When I arrived in Israel, my carry-on contained a small bag of can't-travel-without-'em teas (my longtime favorites). When I left, it was with a soothing new go-to. This magical tea is every bit as sweet as the memories I made while I was away.
For many of us, food triggers an equal sensation and stimulation in the brain (memories and emotions), as it does in the mouth (think taste bud party). It's this sensation that companies like Dove chocolates, for example, use in adverts to exploit our determination to stick to that New Year's Resolution. (Remember those?). But more specifically, remember this? Dove Moments. One google search alerted me to this: "Chocolate won't let you down. Love, Dove".
After studying journalism in college, I developed an aversion to these types of ad campaigns. The ones that target our emotional connection to consume more; you deserve this moment, buy me!
Yet despite this aversion, when entering the atmospheric city of Granada, in the heart of Andalusian Spain, this exact campaign crumbled my reserve, especially when speaking of tea. The tie in was even more swoon-worthy, the aromas of the city's greatest treasure, the Alhambra. Completed in 1391, it's a testament of the Moors' stay in Spain, but also of their sense of art and architecture. A sense that is hardly matched elsewhere in Europe. It's here also that this imaginative empire ended, too. As a preface to the Spanish Inquisition, the Prince of this Muslum empire fled on request from Isabella I and Ferndinand II and with him the Islamic grip on Iberia soon ended.
The remaining evidence of the Moors and Islamic Spain still echoes in the city and gives Granada an irresistible energy, especially if you have a view of the palace with the snowcapped Sierra Nevada towering behind it. It's here that the blend of aromatic teas, with the name Scents of the Alhambra, that I lose any idea of "willpower". Whatever that may be. I want to conjure up the sense of history and the magic of this place for days and, if I'm lucky, weeks to come.
You can find dozens of tea blends with names like Scents of the Alhambra in the market stalls scattered around Granada's grand cathedral (Ferdinand and Isabella made their Catholic mark) in the city center or in any of the many tea shops scattered around the city.
Here in Southeastern Pennsylvania, the Philadelphia International Flower Show’s one of the big social events of the year and the largest harbinger of spring. This year’s theme was Hawaiian. Think leis, orchids, and hibiscus. Also think many judging categories and the crowds befitting the largest indoor exhibition in the world. So, when my husband and I discovered that the Pa Horticultural Society was offering a garden tea in a converted conference room away from the bustle of the crowds, we leaped.
Each tablecloth in our delightful improvised tea room was of a Hawaiian floral design and each was graced with an elegant large silver teapot in the shape of a watering can. As a matter of fact, the large teapot really did contain just water and we were offered a selection of bagged teas to steep in individual ceramic pots.
I first chose a black mango coconut which I sipped while eating crust-less tea sandwiches. We were served 5 varieties of those which included salmon with cream cheese, deviled ham, cucumber, watercress, and egg. My favorites were the cucumber and the salmon. My husband loved the deviled ham as did some of our table-mates. We were also treated to cheese, a strawberry garnish, and seedless grapes as well as a few yummy bites each from a pineapple upside down cake and of a tasty basic scone with the option of adding the classic accompaniments of cream and lemon curd.
While finishing up all my goodies, I drank a cup of mango passionflower herbal tea and combined it with some black tea. That was both to cut the tea’s sweetness and to get just a little more energy for round 2 in the Flower Show’s exhibit area. To keep my aloha spirit going, I’m planning lots of tea breaks with macadamia nut cookies and green mango tea.
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When a cowboy sidles up to a bar, he seldom orders a bubblegum-pink martini. Cinderella probably didn't chug beers at the prince's ball. Why not? Because many people believe that what you choose to drink says something about you. So what's your tea saying?
Truth is, I don't know. There's something oddly open-ended about a cup of tea, which can really suit anyone from sweet elderly folks to high-powered CEOs, from kiddos in shiny dress shoes to dirt-smeared laborers - and from john Wayne to a Disney princess. Though all true teas (but not tisanes) come from the same plant (Camellia sinensis), different leaf treatments and handling yield brews that range from the Zen of a fine green tea like Jasmine Pearls to the imagined classicism of Vanilla Creme Earl Grey.
Tea may almost act as a liquid Rorschach test, where nobody but the drinker knows its true meaning. A steaming cup of Organic Darjeeling may get you revved up in the morning, or it might be a warm wind-down to your day. You may indulge in Pistachio Gelato for dessert... or for breakfast. Fruity blends may strike your palate as old-fashioned flavors or as innovative creations.
Today the rain is pouring down, and I'm seeking comfort (plus a little caffeine boost) from a mug of English breakfast. It's a pretty traditional choice, which may speak to me love of routine. what are you drinking - and what do you think it says about you?
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