Rooibos (Four O'Clock)

 During my last time in Québec, I discovered the tea brand Four O'Clock. I guess they picked up the name to sound more British. Fun fact: I seldom drink tea around four o'clock. I don't think many people here make it a regular thing either, not like the ritual you see in movies. But I digress. I always like to try new teas. Although, to be honest (and precise), I did not drink any of their tea brews per se. Instead I bought a box of their rooibos. I love rooibos, because you can actually drink it in the afternoon, say four o'clock, and you don't have trouble to sleep later. And it taste almost like black tea.  Oh, and it is South African and my wife's father is South African, so yeah, what's not to love.

Two Spoons Tea (and rooibos)

 You may remember that I blogged before, back in February, about  Two Spoons Tea, a fairly local tea company I have been wanting to discover. Well, it turns out that this is the brand that one of our local coffee shops offers. So since then, I had the chance to drink their teas a couple of times. And their rooibos too, which I believe is what you can see on the picture. I drink rooibos for two reasons: it tastes strong like a black tea, but has no caffeine, so it does not trouble my sleep when I drink it late and my father-in-law is South African. I feel like I'm connecting to some of the culture of his country. Anyway, I now know another tea company to enjoy.

Redbush Tea/Rooibos

Last time I went downtown to run errands, I stopped by one of the local cafés, in fact the café of a church (I kid you not). Not that I want to convert, but they serve really cheap food and drinks and service is just as good as in the big chains. I ordered rooibos, which baffled the young person at the till. They have it as redbush on the menu. I prefer the South African term. I hadn't had rooibos in ages and I had forgotten how nice and relaxing it was. I think I will make it a regular thing, when I want a hot drink in the afternoon but cannot have black tea. And you, dear readers, do you drink rooibos? How do you call it?

Where I will buy tea

I recently found out some more good news. Good news for me anyway: there is a local artisan grocery shop that has opened recently in our little town. they stock a lot of things, including loose leaves tea. I had been desperate to find a place nearby to buy "proper" tea, not stuff in tea bags.They seem to have a really wide range, and not only black tea, but also green tea, rooibos and other types of hot drink. I don't want to get carried away: independent shops in this town tend to be short lived. Be that as it may, I intend to make a few purchases there as soon as I can.

Orange and rooibos

Or, maybe the title should say: rooibos à l'orange or rooibos with orange. Anyway, during our last stay in Derbyshire with our friends, we were really treated like royalties. Which means they had plenty of fancy, upmarket food and drinks which they generously shared with us. In the evening, when I did not drink alcohol, I used to drink the Rooibos Orange from Newby. I did not know this company, but apparently this particular brew of rooibos is award winning and I could see why. The orange gives it a bit of extra citrus taste that really mixes well with the rooibos. Rooibos is my caffeinated free drink of choice and what I consider the best beverage that came out of South Africa. And this rooibos is one the best I've had.

Le rooibos

Nous sommes allés hier à Wallingford et nous avons pris le lunch à Bean & Brew, notre café préféré là-bas (depuis la fermeture de Catherine's Corner), en compagnie des parents de ma femme. Je crois que mon beau-père aurait préféré aller ailleurs, il avait en tête le moins compliqué et surtout moins prétentieux Greggs, mais ce sera pour une autre fois. Un peu pour me faire pardonner de lui avoir imposé Bean & Brew, j'ai voulu flatter sa fibre patriotique en buvant du rooibos (celui-ci vient de Tea People). Mon beau-père est sud-africain, voyez-vous, et le rooibos est originaire d'Afrique du Sud. C'est aussi une excellente boisson chaude sans caféine et donc assez relaxante. Je n'en avais pas bu depuis des mois, je crois que je devrais recommencer à en consommer régulièrement.

One free cuppa

During our last holidays, I barely had time to stop and buy anything at David's Tea, so I drank fairly little of it and actually bought none of their accessories, for a change. It is true that our cupboards are getting quite full of mugs and particularly David's Tea mugs and there was nothing I particularly liked about the designs available then. All in all, I must have bought two drinks from their shop. Nevertheless, I have made enough points over the years to earn myself one free cuppa. At the airport in the hours waiting for our flight, so in the nick of time, so to speak. It was actually a rooibos and not a proper tea, because I like rooibos and thought I needed to moderate my caffeine intakes. But anyway, it is always nice to have a free drink.

Time for Rooibos

I am drinking rooibos at the moment, to be precise the blueberry rooibos from Whittard I blogged about before. Rooibos is my favorite non-alcoholic drink at night, and this one is my favorite rooibos because blueberry is the fruit of my region. Rooibos is one of the discoveries that make me wonder what I did when I didn't know it. Anyway, I may sound like an old man, but I love the times for rooibos.

Blueberry Rooibos from Whittard

This is a quick plug for amateur of hot beverages, i.e. teas and its variants/cousins. My wife bought me, among various Christmas presents, a few teas from Whittard. I like Whittard, but did not have the occasion yet to truly discover their products. There was a Whittard shop in this town years ago, but it closed down back in early 2008, before I truly develop my interest for teas. Anyway, about the products she bought was the Blueberry Rooibos, a whole pack of it. I tried it before the holidays and decided to have some now. Delicious. The softness of the blueberry is a perfect marriage with the rooibos and makes for a relaxing evening drink. As my readers may know, I have a particular fondness for blueberries as it is the emblematic berry of the Saguenay-Lac-St-Jean region where I come from. So it is a fitting rooibos blend for me. But in any case, it must be full of antioxidant so you can't go wrong with it. And it is very easy to drink.

Rooibos, lavender and blueberries

I was thinking about this post about lavender, and it reminded me that I have a special rooibos brew from David's Tea which has lavender in it. It is called rooibos de Provence, because of the lavender. And it has blueberries in it. I find it an unique mix: the rooibos is of course South African, the lavender associated with the South of France and the blueberries, well, they are the fruit of the Saguenay-Lac-St-Jean where I am from. And of course I bought it in Montreal. So I like this rooibos for cultural reasons too. Sadly my stocks are getting desperately low.

The detox range of David's Tea

I blogged at the beginning of the month about my use of tea for detox. I mentioned again David's Tea, THE discovery I made during my last trip to Montreal. Well, I discovered that they have a whole collection of detox teas. Well, they are not all strictly speaking teas, some are herbal infusions (not my cup... of tea) and some are rooibos, but they are hot beverages for detox and some look delicious. I intend to stock myself with them during my next trip to Montreal. I cannot believe it, but it seems that I am turning into a tea snob. Then there is another reason for me to want to purchase them: I need something that will cure me from future hangover. So this is my next objective: find the perfect detox tea. 

Tea for detox

I have started detoxing today from the excesses of Christmastime, as rich food and alcohol had taken their toll. Old age, I guess. So I took my perfect tea mug from David's Tea and poured hot water on a black tea mix that did me wonder. I also discovered on their Facebook page that they have an organic detox blend which has rooibos in it. I will most likely buy some stocks on my next trip to Montreal. I love tea in general, but I have a particular fondness for the ones from David's Tea, which started very suddenly when I discovered them. And now I have a growing trust in their effect on health.

The virtues of rooibos

I know this blog might seem to have become a food and drink blog now, but I need to go where my mind muses. Stay tuned for my post on Halloween and gluttony (no kidding, I have one in mind about this very topic). I am drinking rooibos at the moment. I discovered it by total chance, looking for some hot drink without caffeine that I could drink at night. I found Twinings' Redbush tea, which is in fact rooibos. Not officially/properly tea, but close enough, definitely closer to tea than the infusion my parents used to be fond of. It took me a while to really appreciate it, but it grew on me.

It has a number of virtues: antioxidant, no caffeine, no caffeine and well, it has no caffeine so I can drink it at this time and not feel restless or dehydrated. Many of its virtues might be psychosomatic, but I do find rooibos calming. At a time when insomnia has become an issue for me (I have never been a good sleeper, but this has gone worse lately) and as I to avoid relying too much on medication, rooibos might become my new warm milk.