Rdbush-Rooibos - an afrikaans word meaning "Red Bush" which is a herb found in africa that make a naturally sweet drink.
The story of Redbush began about 200 years ago in the Cedarberg region of the Western Cape in South Africa.
It was the locals of the area who first discovered that the fine, needle-like leaves of the Aspalathus linearis plant could be used to make an aromatic sweet and flavoursome drink.
The local people harvested the wild-growing Redbush plants, cut and bruised the plants using axes and hammers. Then would leave them to ferment in heaps, before drying them in the hot African sun. Today, Redbush is still processed in a similar way!
Redbush was well-known to the people of the indigenous tribes around Cedarberg. At the turn of the 20th century, Benjamin Ginsberg a Russian pioneer, tried Redbush and decided it was so great he would market this sweet "mountain tea". So Benjamin began to trade Redbush from the local people. Following some setbacks due to the first and second world wars the Redbush industry is now growing rapidly and this fantastic product is now enjoyed in many countries around the world.
The Plant
Aspalathus linearis-shrub like bush, legume family
1 to 1.5m tall
each legume only bares on seed
How it's made
grow for 18 months
pruned for the 1st time
cutting are harvested
bound in to bundles
taken to processing yards
sheave are cut for a neat appearance
bruised between rollers to trigger chemical process, fermentation
leaves left to dry and change from green to amber colour
flavour develops
sorted and graded
Cedarberg- where redbush is grownMountain region 200km north of Cape Town
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