Rooibos - Red Tea

In the Number 1 Ladies' Detective Agency novels, set in Botswana, Mma Ramotswe drinks bush tea every day.  It took a while for it to click that her drink is the same one marketed in the United States as red tea, or rooibos.  Whatever colloquial name one uses, aspalathus linearis (wouldn't that look good on a label?) makes a lovely beverage, hot or chilled, plain or with milk and sugar (and spices, for chai).

Red tea makes a good substitute for black tea in the evening, or any time one avoids caffeine. Its leaves, unlike those of 'real' tea, camellia sinensis, simply don't contain any.  They do however contain a nice dose of anti-oxidants, which may explain the statement on one purveyor's box, that:

"Rooibos (say roy-boss) . . . enjoys a reputation in its native South Africa as a stomach-relaxing, mood-enhancing, allergy-relieving tonic."  (www.ecoteas.com)