Green Rooibos with Citrus

Green rooibos citrus is a blend of unoxidized rooibos and dried citrus peel. The grassy, pale base lets the lemon-like aroma come forward, and the cup is light and fresh. Steeped in a mug at 96°C for five to six minutes.

Origin & Story

A blend like this starts with a decision about the base. Red rooibos is warm and woody and can crowd a delicate flavor, while green rooibos is paler, grassier and lighter, which leaves room for fruit. Dried citrus peel is the usual partner: it carries the aroma, and the rooibos carries the body.

Citrus peel in tea is simple to understand. The peel is dried and cut small and mixed in with the leaf, and its fragrance comes from the oils in the skin of the fruit, the same oils that make zest smell the way it does. Which citrus is used, lemon, orange or a mix, is up to the blender, so the label is the guide.

Green rooibos is unoxidized rooibos, developed in the 1990s by South Africa's Agricultural Research Council. Because it has no caffeine and very little tannin, it does not turn bitter if the steep runs long, which makes a blend like this easy to get right.

Hot, it is a light, grassy cup with a lemony top note. It also makes a good iced tea: brew it at double strength, let it steep for the full time, pour it over ice and add a slice of lemon.

Steep 3 g of blend in 240 ml of water at 96°C for five to six minutes in a covered mug.

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