Health Benefits of Rooibos Tea & A Brief History of the South African Red Bush Tea + Rooibos Chai

Hey there, welcome back to the channel and if you're new here my name is Natasha and today I'm going to share with you some history about robust tea but also the benefits of this tea because while it's gaining some popularity and rightfully so it's a great alternative to coffee or other teas that are filled with caffeine and not only that it's got heaps of health benefits which can just double up as a tasty tea but also a healthy tea. Why wouldn't you want both? And so this is really a tea to know about and get your hands on a good quality kind if you're able and so stay tuned and let's talk all about robust tea. Now robust tea is native to South Africa which is actually where our family is from so I grew up drinking robust tea in home and pretty much my whole life I've had robust tea wherever I went. It's a pretty staple tea for South Africans. We drink this tea nearly every day and so not only is it a bit of a taste of home but I know this is a really special tea because if you're interested in herbal teas you'll know that they're pretty grassy tasting if you're you know exploring things like dandelion or nettle tea by themselves they don't taste all that great but if you compare it with something like a robust tea you've kind of added the black tea that you would normally add which would make a delicious tea except you're adding robust tea which is free from caffeine and adds a delicious flavor and color to your tea and sort of eliminates that earthy grassy flavor so you can still have the health benefits of herbal teas but kind of in a mellow still good tasting way. Now robust tea grows in this very specific area in the southern tip of South Africa the area is called Cederberg and it grows here specifically because there's something in the soil and the microorganisms in this area that just helps this plant to grow. Now they've tried to commercialize the growing of robust and it's been somewhat successful but not very successful. First of all the seeds are very hard to find. The way that this plant reproduces and create more seeds is not in your typical way. From what I can gauge basically there needs to be a forest fire and some other kind of change in the environment for these seeds to reproduce but also it's difficult for these seeds to germinate. The plant is considered a legume and so that harder outer shell doesn't just you know break open all that easily. This can also happen through wildfires but also through animals or other kind of environmental changes in the area that allow that seed pod to break open and create more robust bushes which is also called red bush if you're going to call it the English version of robust. And so this plant doesn't just grow that easily it is very specific to this area because of the microorganisms and the soil type and it requires its environment to actually reproduce like I was saying and so it stays native to this area and there are some people who have figured out how to commercialize it in the area and there are robust farms but they're not all that popular. And so while that's getting sorted out the history of robust tea isn't all that specific. It's quite isn't very much about it in old old ages so it's only really gained popularity very recently and you're starting to see a whole load of blends including robust tea because it is just so good tasting but also good for you. Now let's talk about all the ways that it is good for you. Well it is jam-packed in antioxidants which is a fancy term for healthy but there's actually very specific antioxidants in this tea that can give you all kinds of health benefits and the three most important polyphenol, asphalthin, and quercetin. Now polyphenol is very good at boosting your immune system it also reduces any kind of infection that you have in your body and it can fight free radicals that just shouldn't be in your body so that's a wonderful antioxidant to have. Now the asphalthin is specifically good for reducing your glucose levels so if you've got any kind of danger of diabetes or just high blood sugar this is a great tea to sort of reduce that because it contains the antioxidant that will do that for you. And then finally the quercetin brings down your blood pressure and it also keeps your heartbeat beating regularly so that's a whole bunch of health benefits jam-packed in this tea and it tastes good. I mean of course you should be having a cup of robust tea every day. I mean um it's just contributing so much to the nourishment of your body so it's very healthy for you and it tastes delicious. Now another great component of robust tea is its high flavonoid count which there's many different kinds of flavonoids and I don't know specifically all the ones that are in robust tea but flavonoids can be very good for fighting cancer and for helping your brain. It also aids retention any kind of allergies indigestion things like that so I mean you're really just drinking medicine by drinking robust tea it it's just taking care and nourishing your body so a very healthy tea to have indeed. Now the things that we make with robust tea in the house is just straightforward robust tea which I'll use a teaspoon of robust tea and steep it in about a cup of or a mug I should say a mug of hot boiling water and then once it's steeped nicely I'll add some milk if you'd like to have your black teas with milk this will be the perfect way for you to have this tea. But you can also combine this like I was saying with your herbal teas so if you're starting to drink nettle tea because you read about all the benefits of nettle leaf tea or dandelion tea or lemon balm or whatever it may be this is a great tea to combine with those kind of leafy herbs because it can make those benefits from those plants just taste good in a delicious tasting tea. Now if I'm going to make a mix like that generally I won't add milk but I'll just drink those herbal teas straight and I'll link some recipes down below if you're interested in some of the herbal mixes that I've already made with robust tea in the house because I'm experimenting with some loose leaf teas but also drying some of the herbs in our garden and starting to make tea with it. Now another way that you can use robust tea is robust chai tea lattes now chai tea is a very popular thing of course the whole spices make a delicious flavorful spicy drink especially around the cooler seasons and so if you're interested in that instead of making it with black tea you can make it with robust tea which we do often and I love to have milk and so this chai tea latte coupled with healthy robust tea and all the health benefits that you're getting from those spices I mean that is just a flavor bomb health medicine cup that you're consuming which is just I think a wonderful drink to have in the cooler weather. So robust chai tea latte I've also made this before I can link you down a recipe if you're interested in that and the directions for how to make that on your stove. Now robust tea also makes great gifts so if you can find yourself a really good supplier you can make little tea bags as gifts for other people like I was saying you can make those herbal tea recipes and maybe gift a whole jar of robust tea blend to someone but you can also make them a jar of robust chai tea latte just put all of the whole spices and a little bit of robust tea in a jar for them or a tea bag whatever's easiest and you can gift that as a gift to someone. So robust tea also makes a really good gift because not everybody has access to robust tea or even thinks to go buy it or knows about it so you can share this knowledge with them as well so that they can get to know robust tea. Well that's just a little bit about the history of robust tea some of their benefits and how we use it in our house and also in gifts if you're interested in that. Thank you so much for hanging out with me and hearing me chat about robust tea and if you're interested in any kind of other herbal teas or I don't know maybe you're just interested in hanging out with me in the kitchen around the garden please stick around and subscribe and catch the upcoming content. All right, see ya, bye!