page_title: Rooibos
section_title: Production and processing
hierarchical_section_title: Rooibos / Production and processing
caption_attribution_description: English: Rooibos tea in a glass 日本語: ルイボス茶
context_page_description: Rooibos, meaning 'red bush'; is a broom-like member of the plant family Fabaceae that grows in South Africa's fynbos.
  The leaves are used to make a herbal tea that is called by the names: rooibos, bush tea, red tea, or redbush tea.
  The tea has been popular in Southern Africa for generations, and since the 2000s has gained popularity internationally.
  The tea has a taste and color somewhat similar to hibiscus tea, with more or less of an earthy flavor like yerba mate.
  Rooibos was formerly classified as Psoralea but is now thought to be part of Aspalathus following Dahlgren.
  The specific name of linearis was given by Burman
  for the plant's linear growing structure and needle-like leaves.
context_section_description: Rooibos is usually grown in the Cederberg, a small mountainous area in the region of the Western Cape province of South Africa.
  Generally, the leaves undergo an oxidation (often termed "fermentation" in common tea processing terminology). This process produces the distinctive reddish-brown colour of rooibos and enhances the flavour. Unoxidised "green" rooibos is also produced, but the more demanding production process for green rooibos (similar to the method by which green tea is produced) makes it more expensive than traditional rooibos. It carries a malty and slightly grassy flavour somewhat different from its red counterpart.
caption: Rooibos tea in a glass
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