Know your rooibos?

• The brew made from the dried leaves is a tisane (a herbal infusion).
• More rooibos is consumed outside South Africa – it is exported to over 30 countries, and is most in demand in Germany, Holland, Japan, the UK and the US.
• Simon Le Bon, lead singer of Duran Duran, always drinks a cup of rooibos before he goes on stage.
• Canadian rockers, The Stills, have a track with rooibos in its title – guitarist/singer Tim Fletcher had been drinking lots of it.
• One of Bvlgari’s tea-based perfumes is Eau Parfumée au Thé Rouge; one of its notes is rooibos.
• Researchers in Rome and Glasgow found that antioxidant capacity in the blood increased after drinking rooibos.
• The most active antioxidant in rooibos, aspalathin, is unique to this plant species.
• Three years ago the SA Rooibos Council initiated the registration of rooibos as a geographic indicator. This means a product is associated only with a particular geographic area. Though the process isn’t complete, good progress has been made.
• A Stellenbosch University research team is working on a flavour and mouthfeel wheel for rooibos, with 20 flavour and seven taste and mouthfeel descriptors.

(pic: SARooibos)