Rooibos Tea History

Rooibos Tea was first brought o notice in 1772 by a botanist by the name of Carl Thunberg. Although this tea was already in use by the people of Khoisan for thousands of years before that for its medical value, it came to be known only in 1772.

Many people took to this tea as an alternative to expensive black tea. Preparation for both Rooibos tea and black tea are similar, the only dissimilarly is the amount of brewing time and the color.

Rooibos tea can be green or red and this depends on the process of the tea and whether fermentation or oxidation is used in the creation process. This tea is also referred to as the red tea. Its popularity is amongst many nations and ethics. Like for instance, in South Africa region this tea is consumed with sugar and milk, in some other places it is consumed without adding sugar and milk.

The longer Rooibos tea is brewed, the flavor improves. In addition to the flavor this tea owes its popularity for the medicinal properties it possesses. The good thing about this tea is that its caffeine free. It’s also known that this tea is a wonderful natural alternative to medication for many ailments such as, depression, menstrual cramps, insomnia, colic, allergens and even toothaches. Based on research and studies it’s proved that there is innumerable health benefits associated with this tea.

During Second World War, when it was impossible to import tea from Asian countries, Rooibos tea became an exceptional substitute. But the retailers faced the problem of highly priced Rooibos tea seeds because of the scarcity of the plant. Due to this fact it became virtually impossible to buy and enjoy the tea.

Only in early 1960’s Rooibos tea took a turn. A book was published in 1968, by Annique Theron (a South African mother) on the wonderful benefits of Rooibos tea. When the book got released, many other studies started to find more and more about Rooibos tea’s antioxidants and other health benefits. The tea gained immense popularity then with this new medical understanding of Rooibos.

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