Every once in a while I find a food or drink that I become obsessed with….and it happened again last week! Ice green rooibos has been drunk by the quart by yours truly almost everyday. It has a light, herby taste. It reminds us a little of a light green tea without any of the bitterness. I like it’s more gentle flavor in comparison to green teas and it has much higher anti-oxidant levels to boot! I have been enjoying mine lightly sweetened and iced. The perfect cooling drink on a hot day!
The difference between red and green rooibos is that green rooibos is not fermented. Green rooibos is lighter in flavor and is higher in anti-oxidants.
Listen to this description from Mountain Rose Herbs (which is where my green rooibos came from). This description was on the page for both red and green rooibos.
“Modern medical institutes and, most notably Japan have taken quick notice of the medical benefits of consuming this beverage and have amassed findings on Rooibos including anti-viral, anti-spasmodic and anti-allergic properties. They have also found that Rooibos is over 50 times more active in anti-oxidant properties then green tea! This is good news for a lot of green tea drinkers especially because of the low price of Rooibos, it makes a wonderful economical alternative.
Rooibos is caffeine free, rich in naturally occurring trace elements, and contains healthy amounts of Iron, Magnesium, Potassium, Fluoride, Manganese, Zinc, Calcium, and Vitamin C. It also contains fair amounts of alpha-hydroxy acid, which is known to promote healthy skin. This is truly an amazing plant that is just starting to make its way into western culture from its mountain peak home of South Africa.”
Here is how I make my iced rooibos.
- 2 tablespoons of green rooibos tea leaves
1 quart of water
honey or stevia to taste
In a warmed mason jar or french press, add two tablespoons of tea leaves. Pour hot water over the tea leaves and steep for 5-10 minutes. Press the tea leaves, or strain through a fine sieve if using the mason jar. Add stevia or honey to taste (start with 1-2 tablespoons or honey) and then pour over ice filled glasses. Give a vigorous stir and add more ice if needed. Adjust sweetness to taste and enjoy!
Ahhhh…the simple pleasures of life!
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This is perfection in a glass! I cant get enough tea, hot or cold with stevia of course 🙂
Could you use this tea to make Kombucha?
LOVE it. Rooibos is one of my favorite teas.
I’m so happy to see everyone finally catching on .
The best tea ever cold or hot. try some agave. very nice.
My family are South African, so I’ve always had Rooibos growing up! I love it! Many people drink it with milk which I find strange in a way because I’ve always drunken like ita herb tea.
It’s funny when I went to South Africa only a few of my relatives there liked it (mainly the elder generation).
You’ve inspired me, Kimberly! I’m gonna drink some now!
Mary,
Drinking rooibos kombucha right now! It’s good. I don’t notice a huge difference from oolong, but my husband who has a more sensitive palate for these kind of things, says he can taste the rooibos. It’s nice that it’s not caffeinated.
fascinating! I’ve only had red rooibos, and didn’t know it was fermented! I just figured it was the way the plant grew – red. It’s often called “red tea,” but isn’t from the tea plant. Thanks for sharing about this! 🙂 I want to join or start a MRH coop around here but have to find enough people interested (anyone in the No. VA area? 🙂 )
I am in No Va! I don’t have any idea what a MRH coop is but I am in for anything that includes learning more about real food or buying it more inexpensively. 🙂 I can be reached at nmarr@liberty.edu.
I’ll email you, Nicole 🙂 I’m not sure if you can edit your comment, but I recall hearing/learning that spammers can use your email address when it’s in the format you wrote it – instead, type it out like you’d verbalize it: menueys at gmail dot com (that’s ours 🙂 feel free to contact me re: a Mountain Rose Herbs coop) Kimi, will definitely try to order from your page in case there are benefits that way!
We have loved rooibos tea, too. I bought some originally to help my daughter’s allergies because she loves tea. We bought some from Teavana and got their Rooibos Tropica (very good). But there are many good ones. I think it would be good to blend with black tea for kombucha, because I’ve read that black tea has the most antioxidants in kombucha. But blends are good.
Thank you for sharing this. I just had a baby and have learned over the week that she does not handle even small amount of caffeine. This will make a great alternative to the green tea (don’t like the decaf stuff) and even the few decaf coffees I get at Starbucks. 🙂
That does sound refreshing! Been on a bit of a tea kick myself lately! I have never seen green rooibos – I will have to get some!
You just taught me something new! I already adore red rooibos, but had no idea that green rooibos even existed! Now I really want some… 🙂
Oooh this sound good and refreshing. Can you only get it online??
Hey Jen,
You can. I got it from Mountain Rose Herbs (check the link in my post). Yum!
This looks great. But I try to stay away from iced drinks as they are not good for my digestion. Your spleen etc has to heat consumed drinks and food to 38degrees before digesting and sthis takes alot of energy so I will be having mine warm. I have never heard of green rooibos though and will definately be checking it out. Thanks limit
This looks great. But I try to stay away from iced drinks as they are not good for my digestion. Your spleen etc has to heat consumed drinks and food to 38degrees before digesting and sthis takes alot of energy so I will be having mine warm. I have never heard of green rooibos though and will definately be checking it out. Thanks kimi
I’ve only ever had red rooibos and I love it! I didn’t know about green rooibos but now I really want to try it. I have a sensitivity to the tea plant and most teas are problematic for me, but rooibos is the one tea I can drink regularly without a problem. So, I will definitely be trying this iced tea recipe this summer. I also have been wanting to make Kombucha but i’ve only ever seen it made with black tea or something like that – I never thought of using rooibos for it – thanks for the idea and suggestion Mary and Rachelle! I’ll have to try that too!
that sounds so refreshing. A good change from the caffeine in my afternoon tea.