African Tea TimeLots of talk about Africa has been going on these past few days so I thought I would post about my favorite tea which comes from South Africa. It is called rooibos and is at the top of my list for hot drinks and has been for a while.

Rooibos is caffeine free and means 'red bush' in Afrikaans. The plant is a member of the legume family of plants and is used to make a herbal tea. Commonly called South African red tea, the product has been popular in South Africa for generations and is now consumed in many countries.

It emerged in some diet book in the UK a few years ago and was all the rage and now is more mainstream, you can buy it in the grocery stores (Loblaws sells this PC brand) now whereas before you could only get it from visitors from South Africa, Zim, Namibia etc. (Sally M and The Kirstens were my suppliers) or at the South Africa shop in Covent Garden and the equivalent in TO is Eat Sum More.

Rooibos is only grown in a small area in the Cederberg region of the Western Cape province. Get to Cape Town or anywhere in Southern Africa if you can, the landscapes are absolutely beautiful!

In South Africa people drink rooibos with milk and sugar but elsewhere some drink it without. The flavor of rooibos tea is often sweet enough without adding sugar. I like it with and without sugar depending on my mood. You can drink cups and cups of it and because it is such an anti dioxant filled tea - the more the better!

South African friends of mine who grew up in boarding schools were served rooibos for breakfast, lunch and dinner and now, as adults can't stand it as they were forced to have it as young ones. Oh well too much of a good thing....

When drinking your rooibos tea you also may be served a rusk, which is a hard biscuit that you dunk in your tea. These biscuits are kind of like Italian biscotti but bigger, harder and with a more rugged, salty flavour. More on Ouma Rusks in my next post...Ouma is the brand name but also means grandmother.

But beware, in Africa when drinking your tea and eating your rusks the baboons are everywhere trying to snatch your food. And they look all cute but when they get close they are a) larger than life b) quick with their hands and c) agressive and hungry!

Mr. Kirsten had a run in with them and we had to roll up our windows after taking this pic as they were ready to pounce!