rooibush honeybush

Africaans for Well-being

Under the South African sun grows a plant that goes by many different names: Rooibos, Rooibush, Redbush or Koopmans (Afrikaans for “businessman”) Tea. In Latin, the plant is known as Asphalthus linearis. In Europe there are even more names for it – Bushman’s Tea or Massai Tea. And yet Rooibush has about as much to do with the Massai tribe as an Eskimo does with a rose garden. Rooibush, its leaves shaped like little pine needles, prospers and thrives in the deep, sandy and slightly acidic soil of the Western Cape at an altitude of 500 meters or more, where the mild climate is influenced by the nearby Atlantic Ocean. Even though the first recorded mention of Rooibush in the 18th century acknowledges the consumption of the tisane by local peoples, it was not until the early 20th century that this delicious, healthy beverage gained wider popularity. The son of an old family of tea merchants hit on the idea of marketing Rooibush, first in Africa, then in Europe, and then finally in America. Rooibush tisane had always been harvested from wild plants, but as skyrocketing demand strained wild supplies, modern, full-scale cultivation became the norm.