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The cure is in the cuppa
Feature
Thirsty Brits can’t get enough of health giving drinks
As Brits we are renowned worldwide for our love of tea, which has established a place in our culture and heritage. Tea is the answer to everything in Blighty, we “make a cuppa” to offer sympathy and support when we’re feeling down or to celebrate good news. However consumers are increasingly looking for a wider range of tastes and flavours, particularly healthy options to enhance our hectic 24-hour lifestyles.
We have come a long way from the traditional English breakfast cup of tea, with three sugars and so strong you can stand a teaspoon up in it. Consumers nowadays want more from the perfect cuppa. They want it to be reviving and thirst quenching but also stuffed full of healthy benefits. South Africans claim their national drink, Rooibos Tea, ticks all the right boxes. Naturally caffeine-free and low in harmful tannins, redbush tea, as it is also known, is incredibly hydrating and it’s high level of antioxidants, nine trace minerals and low levels of oxalic acid make it a fantastic choice of drink to complement a healthy diet and lifestyle.
Consultant Nutritionist Jane Griffin comments: “Rooibos tea offers another way to keep you well hydrated with the added bonus that it can be also help increase your intake of a range of antioxidants and trace minerals. It is naturally caffeine free too so if variety is the spice of life then Rooibos tea certainly deserves a place in the UK tea drinker’s repertoire”
The leaf can only be grown in the remote Cederberg mountain region of the country, known for its wild craggy peaks, clean air and pure mountain streams. South Africans have been enjoying the drink for centuries and us Brits will be happy to know many of the traditional ways in which the leaf is harvested and dried have remained the same for hundreds of years. The tea is considered so soothing it is even given to babies with feeding problems and is known locally in South Africa as the South African lullaby due to it’s beneficial properties when fighting colic.
Countless tea companies, including Dragonfly Teas, Eleven O’Clock, Redbush, Tick Tock, Tetley and Twinings stock Rooibos tea in the British market which means we can enjoy all the health benefits of this amazing South Africa cuppa in our own front room.
