red espresso is made by preparing the aspalathus linearis shrub commonly known as the source of rooibos or red tea to be filtered through an espresso machine when this patented form of the rooibos plant is filtered through an espresso machine it results in a tea with a saffron crema red espresso has been patented by a south african based company red espresso can be prepared in an espresso machine but it can also be prepared in a drip coffee machine french press percolator stove top espresso maker or steeped as strong tea red espresso was featured as a new product at the world tea expo in won the blue ribbon award at the specialty coffee world assembles in minneapolis for scaa conference extracting tea through high temperature and pressure can be convenient for commercial use for the individual it is slightly more expensive because it requires an espresso machine just like with coffee espresso this extraction process results in a tea with concentrated flavor there are pressurized machines being developed specifically for tea extraction