Rooibos Tea, also known as  Redbush or Red Tea, is not an actual tea derived from the Camilla Sinensis plant.   Rooibos comes from an herb, which is indigenous to the Cederburg area of South Africa.  Rooibos herbal tea or infusion has no caffeine and only half the tannin of ordinary brew. .

Rooibos Tea - Redbush Tea

Health Benefits of Rooibos Tea
Apart from being a tasty, enjoyable beverage that can be drunk instead of true tea or coffee, Rooibos has the added benefit from its natural minerals and health-preserving antioxidant.
Scientists from Japan, who did studies in the 1960’s, discovered Rooibos contains powerful antioxidants that are thought to retard aging and have potent anti-inflammatory properties.
In addition, the herb is also found to contain the flavanoid, aspalathin, which counteracts the atherosclerotic processes that result in heart disease. Additional research by the French revealed that hair lotion containing Rooibos promoted faster hair growth with improvement in the hair condition — and caused no allergic reactions.

South African researches found that the polyphenol content in Rooibos is similar to green tea. Polyphenols help protect the body from damage by free radicals.
Other studies link Rooibos tea to helping lessen digestive problems, nausea, stomach cramps and constipation.
Drinking the brew can have a calming effect and has been shown to help with irritability, insomnia and depression.

Rooibos Tea During  Pregnancy
Is it ok to drink rooibos tea during pregnancy? Well first of all rooibos is technically not a tea.  . Rooibos is in fact a veggies  from the aspalathus family.
As a consequence of this rooibos is naturally caffeine free and very low in tannins which brings many health related benefits to everybody drinking it.

The strong and aromatic taste makes it a natural substitute for coffee especially in the time of pregnancy when caffeine intake should be limited or avoided completely.
The tannins present in large amounts in teas can cause a lower iron absorption in the blood stream. As anemia is quite frequent in pregnancy or breastfeeding the low tannins in rooibos can be quite beneficial to this cause. Some studies have shown that adding vitamin C to Rooibos tea can greatly increase the body’s capacity to absorb iron and antioxidants.

Aside from that Rooibos tea can have a major role in the life of a pregnant woman, easing many symptoms that come with particular state.
Rooibos can be beneficial in states of constipation, nausea or stomach cramps. Further it can improve liver function and help in states of anxiety and depression.
A word of caution however. In many cases Rooibos is mixed with other herbs and those herbs might cause some undesired effects during pregnancy.

How To Brew Rooibos Tea
First warm the tea pot with boiling water and then place one teaspoon of Rooibos or one tea bag per cup required in the pot.
Pour over boiling water and let infuse for a few minutes. The longer it is left before drinking the more antioxidants the brew will contain.

Rooibos has a distinctive red hue and a sweet and slightly nutty flavor. The herbal infusion can be served plain, with hot or cold milk or lemon. It can be lightly sweetened with honey or sugar or just left without any sweetening. Rooibos also makes a wonderful ice tea.
In South Africa, Rooibos tea is often used in daily meal preparation because of the important minerals and antioxidants it adds to the diet. It also enhances the flavor of select foods. Just replace the water in a recipe with the brewed tea.

See my other article about Rooibos tea allergies and rooibos tea reactions

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Organic Herbal Tea

With US$5 billion market in the United States alone in 2003, a 500% increase in 10 years, tea is a well established industry that is quickly growing. Tea bags, loose teas, tea shops, and gourmet teas are only a few examples of the outlets for this ever increasing number. Though sales have been mainly rooted in the standard teas stemming from the Camelia sinensis plant (Green tea, Oolong tea, and Black tea), a vast increase in herbal and natural medicines in the western world has brought upon a virtual explosion of Organic Herbal Tea Blend, releasing any confinements there may have previously been.

Now it is not only Big Business that is apart of this industry as the infinite number of herbal tea blends are combing with the free commerce of the internet. This conception is creating new life in an industry that had been patiently waiting. New companies are forming, new mixtures are being created, and now even new tea bags are being designed.

The machine manufactured tea bags are still standard in market where cost is being put before quality. A metal staple is used to close a bag filled with low quality tea dust, which is known to have very low health benefits and give a more bitter taste than its whole leaf loose tea counterpart. Due to the manufacturing techniques used by these production factories, tea dust is the only filler able to be injected with the machines used to mass produce these bags. As the general size of each organic herbal tea blend is larger, they are unable to be used with these processed bags.

Second in popularity is a relatively new pyramid shaped tea bag. A more spacious bag allows for a free floating of the loose tea that is inside. Though higher in quality than the stapled standard, problems of this style include a large shape and size that makes bulk packaging difficult. Also, most bags are filled with green and oolong loose teas, as opposed to organic herbal tea.

With the combined short falls of these two bags, the ever increasing number of organic herbal tea blends and home based companies are in desperate need for a tea bag to match their unique nature. Fortunately as the number of companies is increasing, and more money is entering into the market, handmade gourmet tea bags are being created, better matching the ingenuity behind each organic herbal tea blend. It is very possible that as the number organic blends increase in popularity, raising the desire for organic products and higher health benefits, consumers will be more willing to pay slightly higher prices to receive significantly higher in quality tea bags. With this in mind, it very well could be that a unique organic herbal tea blend could be your gateway to differentiation in a busy herbal  tea industry.

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Probably you are familiar with the Chinese saying, “Firewood, rice, oil, salt, sauce, vinegar, and tea are the seven necessities to begin a day.” Though tea is last on the list, we can still see how important the tea is for the Chinese.

Chinese Flower Teas

There are actually thousand of Chinese tea varieties. These are usually classified by procedure, quality, and preparation methods and so on. However, if we will consider tea in terms of quality, there are actually eight classes of Chinese tea. These include green tea, oolong, black, red, white, yellow, flower, and compressed tea.

Now, let’s take a look at these classes one by one.

Chinese Green Tea

Green tea is said to be the most natural type of Chinese tea. It is usually picked, naturally dried and fried briefly to get rid of its grassy smell. Unlike the other types, green tea skipped fermentation process.

According to some experts, green tea has the most medicinal value and the least caffeine content of all Chinese tea classes. The aroma of this type of Chinese type range from medium to high, while the flavor is usually light to medium. Today, about 50% of China’s tea is green tea.

Chinese Oolong Tea

Chinese Oolong Tea

This type of Chinese tea is halfway between green tea and black tea in a sense that it is half fermented. Chinese also call it “Qing Cha” and its typical leaves are green in the middle and red on the edges as a result of the process to soften tea leaves.

Oolong tea leaves are basically withered and spread before undergoing a brief fermentation process. Then, it is fried, rolled and roasted.

Chinese Black Tea

The Chinese black tea produces full-bodied amber when brewed. Also, this type of Chinese tea undergoes withering, then left to ferment for a long while, and then roasted. The leaves of this variety become completely oxidized after processing.

Chinese Red Tea

As the name implies, this type of Chinese tea has red leaves and red tea color. This color is strongly highlighted during the fermentation process. It is also considered that red tea has low aroma and medium flavor and it is now divided into three subclasses: Kung Fu Red Tea, Ted Tea Bits, and Small Species Red Tea.

Chinese White Tea

This type of Chinese tea is sometimes considered as subclass of green tea. Perhaps it is for the fact that it is only withered and then roasted. Just like green tea, white tea escaped fermentation process. And, it has low caffeine content.

Chinese Yellow Tea

Apparently, yellow tea has yellow leaves and yellow tea color. According to some experts, this type of Chinese tea is an uncommon class of Chinese tea. The flavor of yellow tea is usually mild and refreshing.

Chinese Flower Tea

Here is a unique type of Chinese tea – the Flower tea.  It actually subdivides into Flower Tea and Scented Tea. Well, the Flower Tea is just based on a simple concept that dried flowers are used, without much processing, to make tea.  The Scented Tea, on the other hand, uses green tea and red tea as base and mix with scent of flowers.  Generally, this class has light to medium flavor and medium to strong aroma.

Chinese Compressed Tea

The final type of Chinese tea is the compressed tea.  This class uses black tea as base tea. It is steamed and compressed into bricks, cakes, columns, and other shapes. Also, compressed tea has all the characteristics of black tea. It can be stored for years and decades.

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