7 Best Rooibos Tea Brands You Can Buy And Their Detailed Reviews
If you are running short on time and looking for best rooibos tea brand, then I recommend the Organic Rooibos Tea By Rooibos Rocks as the best rooibos tea out there.
Here’s 8 reasons to try Rooibos Tea:
- Great for detox cos it’s totally caffeine free, sugar free and low in iron-robbing tannins. It contains trace elements of minerals like manganese, magnesium, calcium, iron and copper.
- Loaded with antioxidants to boost your immune system.
- 100% safe for babies and breastfeeding moms.
- Add to smoothies, drink hot or iced, cook and bake with it.
- Health benefits backed by research (diabetes, cancer, heart disease).
- Anti-aging and protects skin against UV rays.
- Relieves minor ailments; from asthma and allergies to indigestion and nausea.
- Affordable, with a refreshing, astringent taste. Never bitter cos it’s low in tannins.
Whether you know it as Red Bush Tea or Rooibos, once you start drinking it. you’ll be hooked, but in a good way!
In this post, I am going to review following Rooibos Tea Brands
1. Rooibos Rocks – Best Rooibos to Gift
2. Cederberg Tea Company – Best Value for Organic Rooibos
3. Khoisan Tea – Best Value for Green (unfermented) Rooibos
4. Kiss Me Organics – Best Rooibos for Detox
5. Tick Tock Rooibos Teas – Best Heritage Brand
6. My Red Tea – Best Single Origin/Farmer Friendly Rooibos
7. Laager Rooibos Tea – Best Value and Taste for non-Organic Rooibos
To The Uninitiated – A Bit About Rooibos Tea
Rooibos Tea is both an herbal tea and a black tea with unique healing properties.
Millions of rooibos drinkers swear by its health benefits and immune boosting abilities. This is thanks to the leaves of rooibos being loaded with antioxidants and a host of other phytophenols. (Phytophenols are the active compounds found in plants).
But it is also consumed purely for its astringent, refreshing taste. It is the ultimate caffeine free tea of choice.
Rooibos Tea is a product that sells itself both for its unique flavor profile and its range of health and beauty benefits. It soothes and heals a host of skin problems when use topically and drinking six cups of tea daily will relieve many minor and major health issues.
Whether this is the first time you are buying Rooibos tea, or if you are a regular drinker of the tea in search of a different brand, this review should help to narrow your options and get you to choose a brand that won’t disappoint.
The packaging and design of many Rooibos brands make it the ideal gift.
What choices of Rooibos tea do I have?
You can get Rooibos Tea in bags, as loose leaves, green or fermented, organic or normal. And all these options contain the antioxidants and flavonoids unique to Rooibos.
Thanks to it’s growing popularity, a whole range of spin-off Rooibos products are available. You get iced rooibos tea, Rooibos tea capsules, Red tea lattes, Red Bush espresso and Rooibos flavored with everything from apple and cinnamon, to Hoodia (promotes weight loss), to lemon, to caramel, to Rooibos chai.
But for this review I want to focus on 100% pure Rooibos brands. They yield the benefits that altered, blended and flavored products may lack.
Choosing the best value and quality Rooibos online
I grew up drinking Rooibos and, quite honestly, there is not much difference in quality and taste between the well known brands. But there is a difference in price.
I was pleased to see that online, the price between green rooibos and organic rooibos is negligible (with some brands). This is not so in stores, where green rooibos costs double that of organic. And organic costs about a third more than regular, non organic.
When you buy loose leaf rooibos you will notice differences in the grade and taste. And then only if you buy a cheaper, lesser known brand. This is because when the rooibos tea bush is harvested, both the stems and leaves are cut. Lower grade products will contain more stems and twigs than higher grade brands. And so that will, of course, affect taste.
Loose Leaf or Teabags?
When buying online, I would definitely stay away from buying any type of rooibos that is sold without a photo of the packaging and at least some info on the brand or company selling. And as tempting as it may be,, stay away from loose leaf rooibos online. The freshness cannot be guaranteed and often loose leaf comes as a bulk buy. So unless you plan to use it in large quantities, buy a box of tea bags.
If buying a box of 80 bags, most brands package them in foil pouches of 20. This is great as freshness is maintained. And you save by buying in bulk, like this.
My Rooibos Tea of Choice at the moment is Freshpak Rooibos. I buy the regular, unfermented tea. It comes in a cardboard box and is available in different sizes from 20 bags to 100. I omitted this brand from my review because they don’t have organic options. When buying online look out for deals that offer two packs or more. If you prefer loose leaf, try find a brand that sells it in tins. It will stay fresh for longer and you can reuse the tin.
In South Africa, the tea’s country of origin, there are more than a few well known, trusted brands. Laager, Freshpak, Eleven O Clock, Glen Tea and Five Roses are all trusted brands in that country. And the price difference is based on the brand more than the quality.
Of the 12 to 15 000 tons of rooibos that gets produced each year just under half is shipped out, to countries like Japan Germany, UK and the US. The rest is consumed by millions of Rooibos drinking South Africans of all economic classes, thanks to its affordability.
To buy organic or not?
I fully believe organic Rooibos to be superior because it has not been tainted by antibiotics, growth hormones, pesticides and fertilizers that crop up in agriculture.
But when I did a Rooibos tea tasting with 4 of my friends not one of them could tell the difference in taste between organic and non-organic, myself included.
So if saving the planet by supporting organic farming is not your “cup of tea” and the price range for organic is out of your budget, the regular fermented kind will be as refreshing as the organic rooibos.
Green or Regular?
The green rooibos has a sweeter taste, with light grassy undertones. It is lovely, but for me, I prefer the fermented tea taste compared to the green, unfermented kind. Even though the green Rooibos has higher antioxidant levels, both types deliver enough kick to be effective.
A Tea with Integrity
Rooibos Tea can only grow in one area of the entire world. And thanks to the economic importance this plant brings to its country of origin, South Africa, much has been done to protect the integrity of the product.
This is fortunate for rooibos drinkers buying online and from specialty stores across the globe.
Straight away this means, as a consumer, I know that any product with the name Rooibos on the label should also state that the country of origin is South Africa.
The color of the prepared tea is a reddish hue so in English the word Rooibos (pronounced ROY boss)translates into “red bush”. But beware, tea labeled as Red Bush Tea may not actually contain any rooibos. The packaging must say Rooibos somewhere.
The Rooibos Council of South Africa follow strict standards for exporting all the teas. So while you still need to choose between organic or regular, green rooibos or fermented, you can be guaranteed the quality is good enough to still contain high levels of the polyphenols that contain the beneficial antioxidants and flavonoids.
For anyone not already familiar with this caffeine free, low tannin tea, let me briefly give you guys a really quick breakdown of properties that all “Brands of Rooibos Tea” will have.
- All tea labeled “Rooibos Tea” gets sourced from South Africa, its country of origin.
- All tea labeled “Rooibos” will be naturally caffeine free and sugar free. (This doesn’t apply to Rooibos products like Bos Iced Rooibos Tea, which will contain either organic cane sugar or stevia.) Bos have now got unsweetened sparkling Rooibos Iced Tea in delicious flavors like white peach and elderberry and blueberry and jasmine.
- Not all tea labeled Rooibos will be organic.
- All Rooibos is GMO free
- Both Green Rooibos Tea and fermented Rooibos Tea will contain antioxidants and flavonoids.
- Drinking up to 6 cups of this delicious brew daily will ensure you reap the health benefits Rooibos has to offer.
- Rooibos for export has to pass Fair Trade and Sustainability standards set by the relevant organizations. But, as mentioned, not all Rooibos will be organic.
Other factors that influence choice of brand will be
- Price – Green, organic Rooibos is almost double the price of organic Rooibos. And organic, a third more than regular. But as I mentioned, online you find affordable brands, like Khoisan Tea.
- Packaging –Cardboard box, tin or a resealable pouch? Will it make a good gift, or care package?
- Quantity per box/ value for money – Is it worth buying in bulk? What is the price per ounce or per tea bag?
- Ethical labor and farming practices – Does it have a Fair Trade rating, a non-GMO verification and/or halaal/kosher standards
- Personal preferences with regards to organic or not, loose leaves or bags, fermented or green.
- Brand or company – Do they give back to community or support any initiatives that will appeal to conscious consumers?
So without further ado let’s check out my Best Rooibos Tea Brands
1. Rooibos Rocks – Best Rooibos to Gift and Best Loose Leaf Brand
Rooibos Rocks has a great backstory. Co-founded by a couple that traveled to South Africa, fell in love with the country, and Rooibos, and decided to relocate from the UK to South Africa.
Their package design is reminiscent of the traditional Shwe-Shwe design on local fabrics. And has a picture of two zebra entwined. So it’s got a trendy, African look to it.
They do an assortment of box sizes, as well as a sampler tin with all their flavors. An ideal gift. And you can choose from organic, green and rooibos chai.
Choose boxed teabags or a resealable, 8 oz pouch of loose leaf. The loose leaf pouch works out at around 5 cents less than bags.
Pros
- USDA organic
- Non-GMO
- Caffeine Free
- High in antioxidants
- Farming Friendly (tea sourced from farms that support sustainable, ethical farming practices)
- Each 100 bag box has 5 foil pouches of 20 bags. To maintain freshness.
- Reasonably priced (between 19 and 23 cents per bag)
- 100% refundable if not happy.
Cons
- Green Tea costs about 10 to 15 cents more, per bag, than normal organic.
Choose from:
- Organic rooibos in box of 100 bags or
- 2 pack of 2 boxes of 100 each
- Green rooibos in box of 40 bags (not sealed in foil pouches like bigger box
- Sampler Tin – great to gift.
- Other flavors are Honeybush (also a herbal South African tea) and
- Chai flavor
- Loose leaf – 8oz resealable pouch. Good quality cut. Also available in 16 oz pouches.
2. Cederberg Tea Company – Best Value for Organic Rooibos
Cederberg Tea Company employs steam sterilization and laboratory testing to ensure bulk density and moisture levels. The tea is sifted and weighed to ensure uniform size and weight,
It is certified organic by Lacon GmbH and has USDA approved organic certification.
Pros
- USDA organic
- Kosher
- Proudly South African
- non-GMO
- Naturally caffeine free
- Best value for money at under 15 cents per bag
- 100 bags – packed in 5 foil pouches of 20 bags – for freshness
- Hand harvested
- From farm to finished product. No middlemen
Cons
- No Green Rooibos option
3. Khoisan Tea – Best Value for Green (unfermented) Organic Rooibos
Khoisan Tea has been exporting organic Rooibos for over two decades. Professional, high quality brand with certified credentials across the board.
Both Khoisan’s Green Rooibos and Organic Rooibos come as a 2 pack of 40 bags per box.
Pros
- Certified organic
- Halaal
- Kosher
- Fair Trade
- UTZ certified
- Rain Forest Alliance certified
- Well priced, both green and organic Rooibos sell for same price.
- Under 20 cents per bag
- Caffeine free
- non-GMO
- High in antioxidants
No Cons!
4. Kiss Me Organics – Best Rooibos for Detox
This company sells only organic teas and coffees. Their emphasis is on health and weight loss. So they have branded their 100% pure organic Rooibos as a detox tea.
The packaging is informative and has all the relevant info of studies that back up their claims.
Pros
- Fair Trade
- USDA organic
- Approved organic by European Organic Commission
- Maintains blood sugar levels to curb hunger
- Aids digestion
- Caffeine free
- non-GMO
- High in polyphenols
- 100% Money Back Guarantee
Cons
- No Green rooibos option
5. Tick Tock Rooibos Teas – Best Heritage Brand
Founded in 1903, by Benjamin Ginsberg, Tick Tock Rooibos has stood the test of time. Benjamin is remembered as the tea pioneer who first perfected the curing process of Rooibos.
Today the Tick Tock brand has a range of Rooibos teas to choose from. The tea is packaged in boxes of 40 and is available from a wide range of sellers, with a wide range in price. Some offers are for up to 4 packs (40 bags per box).
Flavors of Tick Tock Rooibos:
- Organic
- Lemon and Ginger
- Green Organic – Pack of 4 (160 bags)
- Vanilla Chai
- Earl Grey – flavored with bergamot. Comes as pack of 4 (160 bags)
- Balance – fennel, turmeric, cardamon and rooibos
- Bounce – lemon grass, ginger, cinnamon and green rooibos
- Bedtime – chamomile, lemon balm, lavender and rooibos
Pros
- Price for green rooibos is the same as for organic
- Established company
- Caffeine Free
- Simple yet varied range to choose from
- Hand harvested
- Rich in antioxidants
Cons
- Not sure if flavored teas are organic
- Shipping costs seem high from some sellers
- Prices range from seller to seller
- Contains honey in some flavors – not suitable for vegans
6. My Red Tea – Best Single Origin/Farmer Friendly Rooibos
My Red Tea gives 10% of the profits towards the farming community’s education. They focus on Rooibos alone and use tea from a single farm. Hence the single origin. My Red Tea is sustainably farmed.
They have boxes of 80 bags, 160 bags and loose leaf options. The loose leaf is packed in a resealable pouch.
Pros
- CCOF organic
- USDA organic
- Unbleached teabags
- non-GMO
- Farmer Friendly
Cons
- Slightly more expensive than other brands I review here. Only by about 5 cents per bag.
7. Laager Rooibos Tea – Best Value and Taste for non-Organic Rooibos
Laager is a famous South African Rooibos brand, since 1945. Their Rooibos is strong and refreshing. It is affordable and like all rooibos, is caffeine free and high in antioxidants.
Pros
- Affordable, great taste, naturally sweet
- Comes in a box of 80 bags (4 x foil packs of 20)
- High in antioxidants to boost immune system
- 100% natural, no additives, flavors or preservatives
- Caffeine free, low in tannins
- Superior grade
Cons
- No organic option
- No green rooibos option
When ordering Laager online you can choose from a box of 80 tagless teabags or a 2 pack (160 bags) or a 3 pack (240 bags)
>> Check Price on Amazon <<
And that sums up my Rooibos Tea review. Hope you found it helpful!
Oh! I almost forgot. If you use and recommend any other brand of rooibos and why, please let me know in the comments. I will add that to the list. Have a nice day.