What is the one thing that spoils the taste of your favorite cup of Rooibos tea?
How do you make rooibos tea taste better?
Do you steep it for a shorter period, or do you add sweeteners?
Rooibos tea is also known as red tea. It is grown in South Africa, and it is loved for its taste and bouquet of medicinal properties. You make Rooibos tea from the leaves of a shrub known as Aspalathus linearis.
The tea offers you a mild and somehow bitter flavor that is less grassy. It can be bitter than green tea. For those who enjoy the earthy taste, you can continue having it for long, just for its flavor.
For others, you want to take it exclusively because of its medicinal value. It would, therefore, help to make it taste better so that you can enjoy it.
So, how do you make it to taste better?
What makes Rooibos tea bitter?
Rooibos tea is a herbal tea or a tisane. You brew it by infusing the tea in water. Rooibos tea is known as “red bush”, in Afrikaans, a language in South Africa.
Unlike other types of tea, Rooibos tea is caffeine-free, and you can find it in two types: oxidized and not oxidized. For the oxidized, you expose it to air before you can dry it, and it’s red.
Alternatively, you have the green Rooibos tea, which is not exposed to air. Just like many other types of tea, Rooibos tea contains tannin. However, the tannin in it is less than in green or black tea.
The tannin is the one that is responsible for the bitterness in Rooibos tea. If you use it in the right proportions, tannin can make your cup of Rooibos tea beautiful. It also comes with a ton of antibacterial properties and antioxidants. As such, it is vital for your health.
If you are not a fan of the bitter Rooibos tea, how do you make it better?
How to make Rooibos tea taste better
There are a variety of hacks that you can employ to make Rooibos tea taste better. These include:
1. The type of water you use
The type of water you use to brew your teacup will significantly influence the taste that you get. If the water tastes bitter or has minerals, then your cup of tea will be bitter.
For instance, you should not use tap water for brewing your cup of Rooibos tea. Tap water contains chemicals that help to make it safe to consume. As such, the chemicals can affect the taste of the drink.
To get the best flavor of Rooibos tea, then you should use spring or purified water. These types of water contain no contaminants and will, therefore, offer the best flavor.
2. Use hot water
As mentioned earlier, tannin is the component in Rooibos tea that causes bitterness. The hotter the water you use in brewing your drink, the more tannin you extract. Thus, you will have a bitter cup of tea.
As such, you should use hot water instead of boiling water while brewing your tea. With that, you will get the appropriate amount of tannin so that you have a great taste.
If the water boils, you can first put it out of the stove and cool down a little before you add your tea leaves.
3. Steep for the right time
Apart from how hot the water is, it also matters for how long you steep your tea. The more you steep your tea, the more tannin you extract. Therefore, the tea will become more bitter.
On the other hand, the less you steep Rooibos tea, the less tannin you extract. Consequently, your cup of Rooibos tea will be less bitter.
If you brew Rooibos tea for too long, you will be surprised at how awful the taste can be. You will get a muddy taste that feels like you added dust into your cup of tea. This makes it hard for you to enjoy.
If you brew Rooibos tea for a minute, you get a delicious drink that is free of any bitterness. Therefore, for the best taste of Rooibos tea, you should steep it for about a minute.
The color also changes depending on how long you steep. If you steep for a minute, you get an attractive red color. The color gets darker as you steep the tea for an extended period.
4. Sweeten your cup of Rooibos tea
You can also choose to add a sweetener to your cup of Rooibos tea to lift the flavor. There is no shortage of sweeteners that you can add to your tea to make it taste better.
Among the sweeteners you can use include sugar honey, lemon, cinnamon, and so on.
The kind of sweetener you choose may depend on the type of Rooibos tea you want to make.
For instance, if you’re going to have a cold or ice cup of Rooibos tea, you can use honey instead of sugar. Sugar may not dissolve well in cold tea to make it sweet. However, honey is a syrup and can, therefore, mix effortlessly with tea to sweeten it.
Also, you should choose a sweetener that will not ferment the tea or cause the formation of bacteria. If you keep sugar or honey for long, they may cause the formation of bacteria and fermentation. If there is bacteria formation in your tea, dispose of it safely.
Additionally, you can choose a sweetener that complements the health benefits that Rooibos tea offers. As such, you can go for ginger, cinnamon, lemon, honey, and so on. These sweeteners have health properties that complement the Rooibos tea health benefits.
Note, if you suffer from acid reflux or stomach ulcers, you should avoid taking Rooibos tea. The tannin in Rooibos tea may have adverse effects on you. Alternatively, you can consult your doctor before taking the drink.
5. Use loose-leaf tea
If you are in a hurry and want a quick cup of Rooibos tea in the morning, you can go for teabags. Teabags offer a lot of conveniences.
They, however, contain low-quality tea leaves. The tea leaves are broken into pieces, which prevents them from releasing the entire flavor. As such, you do not get the best taste of Rooibos tea when you use teabags.
You should go for loose tea leaves. They are of high quality, and they are not broken into small pieces. As such, when you put the loose leaf in hot water, they spread to release the entire flavor.
As such, you get the best flavor of Rooibos tea by using loose tea leaves.
6. Teapot
The teapot that you use can also influence the flavor of Rooibos that you use.
If you use a teapot that you use to brew other flavors, the flavors may contaminate your Rooibos tea.
As such, if you wish to get the best taste, you should have a specific teapot for brewing Rooibos tea.
Final thoughts
Rooibos tea comes with a bouquet of health benefits. Therefore, you should take a cup to enjoy the benefits. You can even give it to our baby starting from certain age.
However, apart from the health benefits, you should also enjoy taking the cup of tea. You can only enjoy the cup of tea if it has a pleasant flavor.
We have provided you with some hacks that you can employ to get the best flavor for your Rooibos tea. By using the hacks, you end up with the best taste that will kick start your morning.
