Where to Buy Rooibos Tea

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Rooibos tea is an intriguing herbal blend. Although it’s caffeine-free, it has a rich warm and inviting flavor that’s not dissimilar to black tea. As such, we love drinking it as a caffeine-free alternative to black tea. Finding a good rooibos blend was our task for this article – we were surprised at just how many opportunities there were to find rooibos tea online alone.

What to Look for When Buying Rooibos Tea

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Rooibos tea is made from the leaves of the rooibos plant, a bush that grows in South Africa. It’s classified as a herbal tisane as it’s not related to the traditional tea plant and doesn’t contain any caffeine. That’s the first thing you should look for! Rooibos tea, also called redbush tea, shouldn’t contain any caffeine and should be in the herbal and fruit tea aisle.

Organic Rooibos Tea

The growing process is important for your rooibos tea too. As only a relatively small area can grow rooibos in South Africa, you need to consider farming practices for long term sustainability.

Luckily, you can find all manner of Fairtrade and organic certifications for Rooibos tea. It’s a tough plant that can grow with little water. Combined with sustainable management, we can protect the future of rooibos tea by purchasing from reliable, certified sellers and growers.

Prefer Whole Leaf Rooibos

As for rooibos quality, similar rules apply as regular tea. Whole, in-tact leaves are the best you can get. Cut leaves, broken leaves, stalks and tea dust should all be avoided. This means that although rooibos tea bags taste great and are a convenient way to make rooibos tea, they aren’t as good quality as whole leaf rooibos.

Choose Fresh Rooibos

If you have the chance to see the rooibos in person before buying it, make sure you take a big breath in! The fresher and more aromatic the rooibos is (red rooibos is rich, warm and nutty) the better it is. If it has little or no aroma, it’s probably going or gone stale.

Green rooibos tea is slightly less popular than red rooibos. Much like green and black tea, green rooibos hasn’t been oxidized and roasted for that rich flavor. The same rules still apply – fragrant whole leaf is the best quality.

Where Can I Buy Rooibos Tea?

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Rooibos tea is relatively easy to get your hands on. You might find a box or two in your local grocery store and you can definitely find it online. There are tea bags, pyramid tea sachets and whole leaf types available from well-known brands to more niche sellers.

You can also find some awesome flavored blends with fruit, herbs and other tasty flavorings.

Typically, you need 1 teaspoon of loose leaf (approximately 2g), 1 tea bag or 1 tea sachet to make 1 mug of tea. Simply pour the boiling water over the tea, let it infuse for as long as directed, then strain it out and enjoy.

Where to Buy Rooibos Tea Bags

Tea bags and tea sachets contain just enough for 1 serving per bag. Sachets offer a little more space for the chopped leaves to expand, while tea bags mostly just contain tiny dusty tea pieces that infuse very quickly. These are some of the best rooibos tea brands:

Brand Rooibos Selections Box Sizes Price Range
Twinings
  • Organic Rooibos
  • Pure Rooibos Red Tea
  • Orange & Cinnamon Spice
20 tea bags per box $
Numi
  • Rooibos
  • Rooibos Chai, Chocolate Rooibos
16 or 18 tea bags per box $$
Rooibos Rock
  • Natural Rooibos
  • Green Rooibos
  • Rooibos Chai
40 or 100 tea bags per box $$
Yogi Tea
  • Chai Rooibos
  • Caramel Apple Spice Slim Life Tea
  • Cinnamon Vanilla Healthy Skin Tea
  • Mango Ginger Tea
  • Sweet Clementine Stress Support Tea
  • Honey Lavender Stress Relief Tea
  • Soothing Caramel Bedtime Tea
  • Vanilla Spice Perfect Energy Tea
16 tea bags per box $
Adagio Vanilla Rooibos 15 pyramid sachets per box $$
My Red Tea Organic Rooibos 80 or 160 tea bags per box $
House of Rooibos Organic Rooibos 80 tea bags per box $
Celestial Seasonings
  • Madagascar Vanilla Rooibos
  • Moroccan Pomegranate Rooibos
  • Decaf Sweet Coconut Thai Chai
  • Cranberry Vanilla Wonderland
20 tea bags per box $
Steep by Bigelow Rooibos Hibiscus 20 tea bags per box $
Choice Organic Teas Organic Rooibos 16 tea bags per box $
Cederberg Tea Company
  • Red Rooibos
  • Green Rooibos
  • Vanilla Rooibos
  • Chai Rooibos
  • Ginger Rooibos
100 tea bags per box $$
Freshpak Rooibos (plain) 80 tea bags per box $

These are just some of the rooibos tea bag and tea sachet brands that we love. There are many more out there, just check for reviews and organic certifications before you buy!

Buying whole leaf rooibos is of better quality, but a bit inconvenient at times. So, try using reusable material tea bags or single-use paper ones that you can fill yourself. This also gives you the option to combine the rooibos tea with other delicious flavors!

Where to Buy Loose Leaf Rooibos

Now to the good stuff! These are some of our favorite loose leaf rooibos blends that you can find online. These come in bags labeled in grams. Remember that you need 2g of rooibos per serving, so simply half the number of grams to find out how many cups of rooibos tea each will make.

Brand Rooibos Selection Amount (g) Price Range
Rishi Tea & Botanicals
  • Rooibos
  • Blueberry Rooibos
  • Scarlet
  • Ginger Lime Rooibos
  • West Cape Chai
  • Hibiscus Rooibos
  • Peppermint Rooibos
Teaser

110g

450g

$$
Davidson’s Tea
  • Earl Grey Red
  • Herbal Berry Essence
  • Herbal Christmas Tea
  • Herbal Classic Chai
  • Herbal Cranberry Orange
  • Herbal Licorice Spice
  • Herbal Pumpkin Spice
  • Lemon Essence with Peel
  • Licorice Chai
  • Matcha Rooibos Powder, Red and Green
  • Red Passion
  • Red Vanilla
  • South African Green Rooibos
  • South African Rooibos
  • Spiced Rooibos Chai
  • Spring Fruit & Flowers
  • Tulsi Rooibos Chai
Sampler bag

225g

450g

$$
Whittard of Chelsea
  • Rooibos
  • Blueberry Rooibos
  • Vanilla Honeybush Rooibos
  • Choco-Rooibos
100g $$
T2
  • Red Rooibos
  • Sticky Honey Rooibos
  • Sticky Date Delight
  • Red Green Dreamy
  • Red Choc Mint
  • Honey Vanilla
  • Macadamia Brittle
100g

150g

25og

$$$
Tiesta Tea
  • Fireberry
  • Key Largo Lime
  • Cocoa Mint Chill
  • Chocolate Ginger Turmeric
  • Citrus Midnight
30g

50g

140g

450g

$$$
David’s Tea
  • Coco Chai Rooibos
  • Organic Cinnamon Rooibos Chai
56g

113g

170g

226g

283g

340g

396g

453g

510g

566g

680g

793g

907g

1020g

1133g

$$$
The Tao of Tea
  • Rooibos
  • Cape Town Rooibos
  • Green Rooibos
40g

110g

$$
Adagio
  • Rooibos Vanilla
  • Green Rooibos Bonita
  • Rooibos
  • Green Rooibos Blueberry
  • Rooibos Earl Grey
  • Rooibos Caramel
  • Rooibos Pecan Turtle
  • Green Rooibos Citron
  • Rooibos Orange
  • Rooibos Almond
  • Rooibos Peach
  • Rooibos Cocomint
  • Rooibos Cinnamon Apple
  • Green Rooibos
  • Rooibos Lemon Cloud,
  • Green Rooibos Key West
  • Rooibos Jasmine
  • Rooibos Mango
  • Rooibos Berry
  • Rooibos Tropics
20g, 85g, or 454g $

Relish Your Rooibos!

Steeped rooibos tea

Rooibos tea is easy to find online and works with a huge range of different flavors, as you’ll have noticed from some of our recommended loose leaf vendors! Try mixing it with blueberries to make delicious, rich blueberry muffin flavored tea, or just drink it with a dash of honey and milk. However you like your rooibos tea, make sure you buy from a reputable seller and get an organic blend wherever possible.

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