How to brew herbal tea & rooibos
Herbal infusions (tisanes) are not from the tea plant at all, and most are caffeine-free. Because they contain no tea catechins, they rarely turn bitter, so fully boiling water and long steeps are your friends.
- Water
- 100 °C212 °F
- Leaf
- 1 gper 80 ml
- Steep
- 5:00–7:00
- Re-steeps
- 1
Good examples: Rooibos, honeybush, chamomile, peppermint, hibiscus, ginger.
Step by step
- Heat fresh water to 100 °C (212 °F).
- Weigh 1 g of leaf for every 80 ml of water (e.g. 3.8 g for a 300 ml mug).
- Pour the water over the leaves and steep for 5:00–7:00.
- Strain completely so the leaves don’t keep steeping. Keep the leaves for the next infusion.
Getting it exact
- Rooibos can steep for 10 minutes or more and only gets rounder.
- Cover the cup while chamomile and mint steep, to keep the aromatic oils in the cup rather than the air.
- Hibiscus extracts fast and tart: start at 4 minutes.
Quick fix: Weak? Steep longer or add leaf; it is almost impossible to over-steep rooibos.