Production Process

The production cycle of rooibos encompasses ancient traditions and modern farming practices.

Seedlings are planted in the cold, rainy season between June and August. Rooibos plants thrive in sandy soils where their extremely long taproots can access ground water.

On the unirrigated, high-altitude land where the best rooibos comes from, plants are hand-harvested once a year for 5 years. In their sixth year, they are plowed back into the soil and the land is left fallow for 3 to 5 years.

The shrubs are hand-harvested over a two-month period, usually between January and March. This allows for daily processing of the wet tea.

Once it arrives at the processing facility, the plant - stems, twigs, leaves and all - is put through a shredding machine.

The fine green "mulch" is then laid out in a narrow stripe on a concrete tea court and left to oxidize overnight.

The following morning, a customized tractor attachment sprays the tea, which has now turned a rich ochre.

After drying in the sun, for seven hours, the tea is packed into 410kg bags and sent to a nearby factory for steam pasteurising and quality control.