Rooibos tea - unflavored - yay!

Rooibos tea - unflavored - yay!
Originally uploaded by love_yellow

OK, I know my cupboards are well stocked with tea but I couldn't pass up this deal for rooibos tea.

World Market (formerly Cost Plus) was clearing out this tea and each box (of 40 tea bags) was only 59 cents! Actually I got an additional 20% for signing up for the free store membership. lol!

I drink lots of tea in the winter and what I love about rooibos is that it has no caffeine (and tons of antioxidants). I can't drink caffeine past 3pm or else I can't go to sleep.

Many ways to drink rooibos

Most of the rooibos I see on the shelves is flavored and expensive - plain rooibos is an acquired taste so I can see why no one sells it plain. Even Trader Joe's stopped carrying it and in the last year or 2 it has been challenging to find it. And if I do see it, it's usually relatively expensive. I know this tea is not expensive so I have a problem paying a lot for it.

There are many wonderful flavored rooibos teas and I especially love the ones offered by Teavana and Numi Tea (Ruby Chai is my favorite). And if you want to have a little flavor occasionally, adding honey, lemon or a small drop of vanilla extract is excellent. Adding honey and milk (or soy milk) makes it a real treat. In the summer I have served it iced with crushed mint leaves. Rooibos tea is really quite versatile.

When I lived in Cape Town S.Africa for several months (many yrs ago), where the plant of this tea is native, and I learned to appreciate it there. The locals showed me how you should "cook" it in hot water for about 30 minutes. But steeping it in boiling water for 3-10 minutes is also fine. Oh, and like green tea, it can be re-steeped, but I only re-steep in once.

Look for it at World Market
I'll confess that I actually bought 8 boxes, but will give the other boxes to my 2 sisters. I would have cleared out their whole stock and gift them, but I'm pretty sure that not many of my friends like plain rooibos. Here's a tip if you plan to look for them at your local World Market shop... I found them on the very bottom shelf and sort of hidden back. So if go, be sure to move things and dig around, or ask a clerk.

Now I have a good stockpile of tea and I can drink generous amounts in these winter evenings without worrying about the price. :-D

Cool Design
I adore the retro design of the packaging - simple, clean, vivid colors. It's obviously the same company but 2 different brands - I wonder why they packaged it this way? Why is one labeled "organic" but the other one not - I'm sure their from the same source. Were they targeting different markets? One of the boxes had an Australian address on it as well as the U.K. address. And interesting how the one shop was selling both brands.

I checked the manufacturer's web site to learn more but the site was down. www.ticktockteas.co.uk/