Heaven of Tea

South Africa is home of the hardy Red Bush plant that is used to make Rooibos tea, or African Red Tea. This delicious sip has been deeply rooted in South Africa’s history for centuries, and was exposed to the rest of the world in 1772 when Swedish botanist, Carl Thunberg, discovered that South Africans were making tea from the rooibos plant. Today, the Red Bush plant is still grown in the Western Cape province in the Cederberg mountain region.

When the tea is ready for harvesting, tea workers cut branches from the bush and bound them to be transported to a facility where the leaves will be chopped from the sturdy branches and processed to reveal the traditional Rooibos needle. This reddish brown needle-like tea steeps to yield a rich, earthy, malty and naturally sweet herbal tea. Red Rooibos is a fabulous base for a blend of indulgent chai spices, nuts and decadent vanilla. The red bush can also be processed to reveal a Green Rooibos (without fermentation) for a lighter taste that is used in fruity blends.

Known for its health benefits, Rooibos is rich in vitamins and minerals, has higher antioxidants than green tea, and can help with digestion, promote healthy skin and relieve some allergies.

Although this tea brings our palates great joy, it is crucial to understand the hardships of the South African tea pickers, mostly women and children, who often live in poverty. In an effort to create social change and assist these women and children, Teavana founded the CARE® in Every Tea Leaf/ EquaTradeTM Program.

With every sale of Teavana® tea, you are facilitating a donation which helps fund education, access to safe drinking water, and economic development opportunities in the world’s tea growing communities. Teavana® donates 1% of annual profits from tea to CARE®, which places special emphasis on empowering women to create permanent social change.

In 2009, the CARE program funded the reduction of rural poverty in South Africa by introducing economic development activities including:

•Business Training. Funded the training of Savings & Loan members on income-generating partnerships and market positioning skills to allow small business to grow.

•Technical Support. Provided specialized support and training on product quality & improvement and agricultural value programs. CARE® funded business literacy training for women, teaching improved manufacturing & agricultural skills.

• Mentorship. CARE® created mentorship programs that led to organizing farm cooperatives, developing sales outlets for products produced, and providing better record keeping skills to track production and sales.

With each sip of Teavana’s Rooibos teas, you are not only honoring a traditional beverage with deep roots, but also helping us make steps towards greatly improving the lives of the children and women who are sharing their local Rooibos tea with you.