Rooibos has been a popular drink in South Africa since the early 1900’s and started to gain popularity in the US and UK for its health benefits. Whether its deserving of the reputation for being an ‘elixir of life’ is what I’m going to find out!
Rooibos is Afrikaans for “red bush” which is the name it often goes by in the US and UK such as…. It bears no relation to the Camellia Sinensis plant responsible for our beloved green and black teas.
Rooibos does contain high levels of antioxidants such as aspalathin and nothofagin which aren’t found in traditional Camellia Sinensis and with lower caffeine content and tanins it has fewer side effects common in very high levels of tea intake. Although its worth noting tea has quite low level of caffeine anyway and few people suffer caffeine related side effects from tea unless sensitive.
I did note in a previous post on which tea is healthiest that Rooibos contains just 60-80mg of antioxidants per cup compared to the whopping 300-450mg available in green tea. Even black tea that has gone through a heavy oxidation process has more than rooibos with 130-200mg per cup.
Although it has to be said that amount of antioxidants isn’t the only indicator of the health benefits of rooibos. With its lower caffeine and tannin content it can be a useful alternative to those suffering from caffeine sensitivity.
Rooibos tea also happens to be a nice tea to drink for its own sake! I won’t switch to it as my ‘tea’ of choice any time soon but its certainly one I now keep in my cupboards whenever wanting the occassional nutty and sweat red bush.
My Top 3 Rooibos Teas
Tazo Tea African Red Bush
Teavana Blueberry Infused Rooibos Tea
Loose Leaf Adagio Rooibos
facts, health
health, rooibos
Its a common question among caffeine addicts and general caffeine drinkers:
How much caffeine is in X
Well – Jasmine tea is no exception and you’ll be happy (maybe sad – I dunno!) to know that ots similar to that of green tea. Jasmine tea contains very little caffeine of note and averages:
5-20mg per cup
facts, health
health, jasmine
I posted about the Tregothnan tea plantation a few months ago and how this Cornish tea plantation in the UK is making a success of growing tea in these wet and windy isles.
Then I stumbled across a Guardian article in which the reporter went to get some single estate tea as a sample to try and was told that his minimum order of 125g was…£180!
Edward Eisler of Jing Tea said fo the tea after a blind taste test:
“Looking at it, from the colour and shape of the leaf and the flecks of green, it resembles darjeeling. It has good body and richness, but it doesn’t have clarity of presentation of flavour, which is the key thing I look for in whatever tea I’m buying. It’s also slightly burnt. I’d guess someone would use it for blending.”
Probably not worth the £180 then!
facts, news
Its the truth! Down in the Cornwall countryside they happen to grow tea on a small pocket of plantations. It was started in 1999 and has gone form strength to strength. Its thought the climate is perfect for the tea bush and its already hugely popular in the London high society. Fortnum and Masons anyone?
The key advantage the producers are touting is the freshness of the crops. Evelyn Boscawen (son of Lord Falmouth) says that the teas in most peoples home’s are upto 12months old by the time they’re drunk. Whereas the Cornwall crop is weeks at most.
The last time anything like this was attempted was during WWII when the countries leaders feared the loss of tea supplies could plunge the country into an abyss of misery and woe far greater than the falling bombs ever could!
Due to the small size of the plantation the tea is quite expensive compared to the usual tea choices but if you’re interested in getting hold of this quite rare breed then you can visit the Tregothnantea site for a look.
facts, history, life, merchants, products
I get sent a lot of questions and I’ve decided to start a Q&A series to answer some of them. First off is one of the most commonly asked questions I get and thats all about Wu Yi tea.
See – for those not in the know – Wu Yi tea is meant to help with weight loss.
Whether it does or it doesn’t isn’t what I’m answering today (I will in a later post – subscribe to the RSS!).
The answer to the question on where you can get Wu Yi tea I managed to find after some investigating. You can go for one of the rubbish and dodgy places you find when you do searches for the tea or you can go for one of the biggest and most respected tea merchants in the US: Adagio Teas
. They sell loose leaf Wuyi Oolong.
So that’s the place to go. 
facts, merchants
oolong, wuyi
I couldn’t believe this when I saw it but a young British-Indian woman in Kensworth, Bedfordshire (UK) was about to take a sip of tea in her shop when two robbers burst in wielding 10 inch blades demanding cash and lottery tickets.
In a flash of incredible bravery the young woman – who stands at only 5ft – launched her hot cup of tea into the face of one attacker and the mug was thrown at the second.
They were so shocked they fled with only a box of easily-cancelled lottery scratch-cards.
Here’s the CCTV of the incident.
Tea fights crime too!
facts, life, news
crime, heroic, news
Yellow Tea
Yellow tea is rarely heard of here in the West but its another tea similar to green in taste and preparation. However, what makes it different (and yellow) is the freshly picked leaves of the tea are left to sit and dry for longer causing them to yellow.
This type of tea is often mixed with other herbs and can often appear black in colour.
There is one yellow tea in the list of the 10 famous China teas – the Junshan Yinzhen which is from Hunan province.
Find Yellow Tea at Teavana
facts
chinese tea, yellow tea
Tea
Not many people know this but there’s an organisation in China called the Chinese Tea Culture Research Centre and they have an official list of the 10 famous and premier Chinese teas. Without further ado – here they are:
Puerh
- Yunnan Puerh – One of China’s oldest teas and also one of its favourites due to its health benefits.
Green
- Xi Hu Longjing – a green tea from Zhejiang province.
- Dong Ting Bi Luo Chun – green tea from Jiangsu province.
- Huang Shan Mao Feng – green tea from Anhui province.
- Tai Ping Hou Kui - another from Anhui province.
- Lu An Guapian – and a third green tea from Anhui province!
- Xin Yang Mao Jian – from Henan Province.
Oolong
- Da Hong Pao – an Oolong tea from Mount Wuyi, Fujian Province.
- Tieguanyin – an Oolong tea from Fujian Province.
Black
- Keemun – the only black tea in the list from Anhui province.
Yellow
- Junshan Yinzhen – a yellow tea from Hunan.
facts
black tea, china, chinese tea, green tea, yellow tea
Tulsi Bush
Tulsi tea is made with one of the key plants used in Ayurvedic practices. Its used primarily as an adaptogen – which means it helps your body adapt to stresses and balances the body’s natural flow.
Tulsi tea has quite a reputation in Ayurvedic practices as being the cure-all for many problems as well as being a general ‘elixir of health’.
Some of its claims include:
- Painkilling properties due to its concentrations of eugenol.
- Diabetes treatment due to its lowering of blood glucose levels.
- Cholesterol busting properties.
- High in antioxidants.
- Good for cataracts.
- Some studies have even shown it to treat radiation poisoning!
It has a taste and aroma that takes some getting used to. If you’ve ever drunk a very strong black tea without anything added then you’re getting close to the dry astringency of a tulsi tea.
Get some Organic India’s Tulsi Tea
facts, health
ayurveda, herbal tea
The Greatest Event of 1886
- Burma presented to Queen Victoria as a gift.
- Coca Cola is invented.
- A fire devestates much of Vancouver in British Colombia.
- Apache leader Geronimo surrenders after 30 years of war.
- Motherwell Football CLub is established.
- The Yorkshire Tea merchants is established by Charles Taylor.
facts, history, merchants
merchants, yorkshire tea
