What is Rooibos tea?

Rooibos is the name of a tree that grows in Africa. Rooibos tea is a tea bag product made by importing fermented rooibos, removing impurities and off-flavors, and grinding it to ensure the nutrients are well-extracted into water. It is a healthy herbal tea that allows you to enjoy the benefits of rooibos by steeping it in hot water for just a few minutes. The tea has a slightly cooling taste and aroma, and the tea liquor has a captivating red color. Rooibos tea is often perceived as having a deeper flavor and aroma when served cold rather than hot. Since rooibos contains no caffeine, it is a tea suitable for pregnant women and children alike. Here is a brief introduction to rooibos, the raw material for the tea.

Rooibos

In the southwestern part of the Republic of South Africa (abbreviation: South Africa), there is the Cederberg Mountain Range. The Khoisan people have lived at the foothills of the Cederberg Mountains since ancient times. During the colonial era, the Dutch who entered the Khoisan territory married indigenous people, resulting in mixed-race descendants. These descendants have lived alongside the indigenous people for generations and are known in South Africa as Boers. The name "Rooibos" originates from the Afrikaans language used by the Boers; literally translated into Korean, it means 'red bush tree'. 'Rooi' means 'red' and 'Bos' means 'bush tree'.

Botanically, rooibos is a coniferous shrub belonging to the legume family and the genus Aspalathus. The genus Aspalathus includes over 270 species of trees, almost all of which are native to South Africa. Among these 270+ species, rooibos is the most famous. Its Korean botanical name is 'Ganeun-deungpul'.

Both wild and cultivated rooibos are used in the production of rooibos tea. There are many similar rooibos species in the wild, and sometimes teas made from these alternatives are traded as rooibos tea. Therefore, the South African government has established legal regulations stating that 'Rooibos tea must be manufactured exclusively from rooibos'. The European Union (EU) has 'Protected Designation of Origin' regulations that recognize only rooibos grown in the Cederberg Mountains of South Africa as the raw material for rooibos tea. The photo below shows rooibos branches, the raw material for rooibos tea. The branches are red, and the leaves are thin with pointed tips.

Rooibos tea is made from branches and leaves harvested just before blooming. The rooibos branches are cut into pieces of about 5mm, crushed by machine, moistened with water, and then sealed. The sealed raw material is fermented at 30-50°C for 8-24 hours and dried for 1-3 days to complete the tea. This process is similar to the production process of Chinese Pu-erh tea. During the tea manufacturing process, polyphenols are oxidized to produce yellowish theaflavins and reddish thearubigins, which give the tea liquor a reddish-brown color similar to Pu-erh tea. Because the tea liquor is red, it is called Red Tea in English-speaking countries. Below are the fermented tea leaves.

History of Rooibos Tea

Rooibos is native to South Africa's Cederberg Mountains and is a regional specialty found nowhere else. The oldest record of rooibos is in the travel journals of the Swedish botanist Thunberg (1743-1828) in 1772, stating that 'the indigenous people drink rooibos'. While traces of rooibos use have been found dating back thousands of years, there are no records of rooibos prior to 1772. During the colonial era, Boers drank rooibos—which had been a health tonic for the indigenous people—steeped as a substitute for green and black tea. In 1904, entrepreneur Benjamin Ginsberg (1877-1944) first commercialized rooibos tea, and in the 1930s, physician Dr. Nortier (1885-1955) established cultivation techniques. Rooibos tea began to be exported in 1955, introducing it to the world outside South Africa.

Types of Rooibos Tea

Rooibos tea is broadly divided into fermented tea and non-fermented tea; since 99% of production is fermented tea, "rooibos tea" effectively refers to the fermented variety. From its first release in 1904, only fermented rooibos tea was produced, but to suit the tastes of 21st-century wellness seekers, non-fermented tea began production in 2001. Non-fermented tea has a more astringent taste. Because non-fermented tea is more expensive to produce than the fermented variety, its production volume is lower.

Rooibos Tea Grades

The quality grading of rooibos tea is determined in detail by the 'leaf-to-stem ratio', particle size, color, taste, and aroma. However, the mixing ratio of rooibos leaves and branches used as the raw material has the greatest impact on the tea's grade. The higher the proportion of rooibos leaves in the raw material, the higher the quality of the tea. This is because teas containing more leaves than stems produce a deeper liquor color, a richer flavor, and a more pleasant aftertaste.

Rooibos Tea Applications

Like coffee, rooibos tea can be prepared as espresso, latte, or cappuccino styles, or enjoyed as milk tea or iced tea. It is often blended with flavors like cinnamon, orange, mint, or banana, or with ingredients like raspberry, hibiscus, and vanilla. Beyond tea, rooibos is used in a wide range of applications, including beverages, foods, functional health products, soaps, toothpaste, and cosmetics.

Why Rooibos Tea Became Famous

The first reason for rooibos tea's fame is that it is a caffeine-free herbal tea. Rooibos tea can be enjoyed by people who are sensitive to caffeine, including pregnant women and children. The second reason is that it was used as a substitute for black tea. When rooibos tea was first launched in South Africa, black tea was available on the market but was prohibitively expensive, so rooibos tea gained popularity as a black tea substitute. Subsequently, as it was exported to Europe, rooibos tea achieved global renown.

The biggest factor that made rooibos tea famous is the global wellness trend. The abundance of aspalathin and nothofagin in rooibos caught the attention of wellness enthusiasts, leading to a surge in export volume starting in the early 1990s. Approximately 70-80% of rooibos tea is consumed in Europe, with Germany accounting for 40-50%. As of 2010, rooibos tea was consumed in 37 countries, including those in Europe, the US, and Japan. Barely 60 years after leaving South Africa, rooibos tea is now evaluated as a tea on par with world-famous black and Pu-erh teas.

Another reason for rooibos tea's fame is the experience of South African Annekie Theron (1929-2016). In 1968, Theron mixed rooibos tea into the milk for her nursing infant and observed that the child's health issues were immediately resolved. As this became known in South Africa, a trend swept the country of mixing rooibos tea into infant formula. Consequently, in 1971, Theron started a business creating cosmetics with rooibos extracts. The massive success of this business further propelled the name "rooibos" to global fame.

Rooibos Components

Based on research data from universities and government research institutions in the Republic of South Africa, here is a brief introduction to some of the major, special, and trace components in rooibos.

The product is supplied by Onyudam (CEO: Yoon Sung-hyun, Cho Soo-in) and manufactured by Hapcheon Herbal Medicine Processing Agricultural Association Corp. (CEO: Baek Moon-gi). CEO Baek, having run a health tonic farm with his parents for over 20 years, established the Hapcheon Herbal Medicine Processing Agricultural Association Corp. in 1996, set up a processing factory the following year, received the $500,000 Export Tower award in 2003, and served as the 17th-18th Chairman of the Korea Herbal Medicine Association.

Hapcheon Herb Processing Farming Association cultivates over 60 types of health-promoting plants in Hapcheon-eup, Hapcheon-gun, where the association is located, including chrysanthemum, hydrangea, mulberry, persimmon, peony, achyranthes, safflower, motherwort, omija, boxthorn, cornelian cherry, milk vetch, green tea, actinidia, and balloon flower, using them as raw materials for health teas. The Hapcheon Herb Processing Farming Association sells its products through domestic and international sales channels and also supplies products to other companies through OEM manufacturing.

The Hapcheon Herb Processing Farming Association received the Minister of Agriculture and Forestry Award in 2002, registered the trademark 'Sangrime' in 2007, was certified with the international food safety standard ISO22000 in 2015, and was registered as a venture company in the same year. It registered a patent for a balloon flower tea manufacturing method in 2017, received food safety management certification HACCP (No. 2018-2-9156) from the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety in 2018, and received organic certification (No. 17100199) for chrysanthemum crops in 2019, thereby establishing itself as a small but strong enterprise. A brief introduction to the Hapcheon Herb Processing Farming Association is provided below.

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