TeaChat

Hi everyone.
I just got my first tin of rooibos to try and was wondering if someone can help me on brewing it. I will probably use my lined tetsubin with my little steeper basket. My question is, how much leaf, water and water temp. Thanks for all the help!

I brew mine western style. About 3g per 7 oz. water. The longer you let it steep, the better it tastes. It won't turn bitter at all. If I have the time, I let it steep 10 minutes or so...oh yeah, boiling water too.

Let us know how it tastes. It's different.

omegapd wrote:I brew mine western style. About 3g per 7 oz. water. The longer you let it steep, the better it tastes. It won't turn bitter at all. If I have the time, I let it steep 10 minutes or so...oh yeah, boiling water too.

Let us know how it tastes. It's different.

Yah there are two ways of steeping Rooibos. Western style or by boiling it (Indian Style?). Either way you can can make it in a big or small pot, size won't make a difference. Unlike tea, herbal teas are a bit more flexible. Rooibos you want to steep or boil for over 10 minutes. The result should be something really earthy in taste but not unpleasant. If the taste is too much for you, try adding in a little spearmint the next time you brew it.

Just brewed up some Vanilla flavored using your instructions.
It is defiantly a interesting tea. The earthiness dosent bother me as I love shu puerh. So all in all it is a interesting tea, of which I intend to keep some on hand just to mix up the trend. Thank you very much for the instructions.

Boil the water, leave the bag in til it's gone. Barky Rooibos is the way to go!

So you boil the water on the stove with the rooibos in it, rather than a normal steep? I keep reading that on here and I wonder if boiling v. steeping would make the flavour stronger or make a lot more "stuff" come out of the dry rooibos.

I'll add a couple of bags of Rooibos to ginger after it's been on for about 10 minutes and let it boil for another 10. If I'm making a thermos full I'll boil the water and add the bags and water into the thermos and let it steep for hours, until I'm ready for some, the bags seems sturdy enough. (Presidents Choice brand, very inexpensive and the best I've had so far.)

Personally, I find that boiling the Rooibos gives it a nuttier taste. It's darker as well. Considering the taste is only a little stronger it's just not worth the time and I only boil it when making a Rooibos Ginger tsane.

j

JM wrote:(Presidents Choice brand, very inexpensive and the best I've had so far.)

Not to go off topic here, but I have to agree with what you say about the President's Choice brand tea. I bought 100g of loose leaf President's Choice Jasmine Green Tea for something like $6. For the quality of the tea, it was an excellent buy. It's not too floral and it doesn't smell or taste like fake jasmine either, which some of the cheaper teas can, I've discovered. And they come in decent tins too! I wonder where PC gets their tea...

At first I was afraid to admit on this forum that PC brand tea was good stuff but I stopped caring about tea snobbery long ago.