The leaves of honeybush are commonly used to make
herbal teas. It grows only in small areas in the southwest and southeast of
South Africa and has many similarities with
rooibos. Honeybush and rooibos are considered types of
red tea. Honeybush is so named because the flowers smell of honey. The taste of honeybush tea is similar to that of rooibos but a little sweeter. In some rural districts, it used to be common practice to keep a kettle of honeybush tea infusing on the stove ready for drinking while scenting the whole house—unlike
tea prepared from
Camellia sinensis, the product does not turn bitter with long-term simmering. There are dozens of species of honeybush tea found in the wild, of which about four or five are in widespread home or commercial use. These are: •
Cyclopia intermedia, known as 'bergtee' (mountain tea), found between
Port Elizabeth and the edge of the
Langkloof •
Cyclopia genistoides, known as 'kustee' (coastal tea), found mostly in the Western Cape near
Yzerfontein and
Darling and also thriving in the
South Cape if cultivated •
Cyclopia maculata, grown in the
Outeniqua area near George •
Cyclopia sessiliflora, known as 'Heidelberg-tee', named after the town
Heidelberg in South Africa, where it grows in the local mountain range •
Cyclopia subternata, known as 'vleitee' (marshland tea) or 'valleitee' (valley tea) •
Cyclopia longifolia Some species can be cultivated whereas others have resisted all attempts at cultivation and must be harvested in the wild. It is not always easy to discover what the seeds need to enable them to germinate; some kinds bear
elaiosomes and might be dependent on the services of particular ants or birds.
Cyclopia intermedia (mountain tea) is one of the teas that is harvested in the
Kouga mountains where it grows naturally. Mountain tea regenerates within three years after harvesting or devastation by fire; consequently less than one third of the mountain yield is available for harvesting each year by rotation. Mountain tea and valley tea flower in September/October whereas coastal tea flowers in May/June.
Tea preparation There are two methods of processing honeybush for use in tea. In the traditional method, the leaves of the bush are harvested, cut and bruised (often with mechanical rollers), and then left in the sun to
oxidise. The modern, industrialised process oxidises the leaves in rotating, heated tanks at temperatures of 70–90 °C for two to three days. The leaves are then air-dried. Afterwards, the leaves are sifted and graded according to the application: • Super Fine (mostly used for string-and-tag
tea bags) • Regular Fine (mostly used for swimming tea bags or loose tea application) • Coarse (mostly used for loose tea application) ==Chemistry==