What Is Redbush Tea?

Redbush (also called Rooibosch or Rooibos) tea is a herbal infusion from a native plant (Aspalathus linearis) of the mountains of the western Cape in South Africa.

According to fans, drinking Rooibosch tea is a treatment for insomnia, rheumatism, indigestion, constipation, depression and anxiety.  It really was traditionally given in hospital wards in South Africa to settle colicky babies.

Redbush can be drunk with lemon or with milk (like black tea).  It lacks the caffeine of ordinary black tea, though.  It has about half of the tannin level of black tea (so intereferes much less with iron absorption).   It is naturally rich in the flavinoid quercetin.  Quercetin is a powerful antioxident, has anti-tumour properties and may be helpful in respiratory diseases, including asthma and bronchitis.

Rooibos seeds are tiny so difficult to collect naturally for cultivation, but there are some little helpers here; native South African ants collect the seeds as fodder.  Breaking into an ant's nest is how growers can find the seeds and replant each year, too.