Rooibos Ice Tea

I tasted this delicious rooibos ice tea at the DasDog stand at the Old Biscuit Mill in Cape Town. It was a hot summer morning and this was an amazingly refreshing hybrid between iced tea and juice. It was earthy from the rooibos and was sweetened from a bit of fresh orange juice and honey. I had been craving it since and finally got my act together to try to recreate it last weekend. 

The woman told us that it was a mix of ice rooibos tea (an herbal tea from South Africa which now is pretty widely available here in the U.S. and is super good for you), orange juice, lemon, and honey. She also had a version mixed with vodka, but it was 9:30am (and we had already done a beer tasting at the Darling Brew stall). Haven't tried the vodka yet, but the earthy not-quite-sweetness of it makes me think it could be a Bloody Mary type alternative. Or somewhere between a Bloody Mary and a Mimosa. It's easy and refreshing.

Serves 6

Ingredients:

6 rooibos tea bags

1/4 cup honey

6 cups very hot water

juice of 1 lemon

1 cup fresh squeezed orange juice, no pulp

Directions:

Mix the hot water and honey in a large, heat proof pitcher until the honey is fully dissolved. Add the tea bags and let it steep for about an hour. It will turn a pretty brown/red.

Remove the tea bags and add the orange juice and lemon. Taste and add a bit of honey if you want it to be sweeter (it helps to dilute it with a bit more hot water then pour it in.) Let it chill in the fridge until very cold. Serve with ice (and with a sprig of mint if you had it - I didn't).

Feel free to add some vodka or a liquor of your choice.