Honeybush - 3955

Honeybush tea is a South African herbal tea made from the leaves of the honeybush plant. It is grown on the Eastern Cape of South Africa and is closely related to rooibos tea (also known as red bush tea) which comes from the Western Cape of South Africa. The flowers of the honeybush shrub have a honey-like smell, which gives the plant and the tea its sweet-sounding name.

Honeybush (Cyclopia intermedia) is a shrub with woody stems that produces trifoliate (three-part) leaves and bright yellow flowers. Settlers to South Africa have been interested in the medicinal benefits of honeybush tea for hundreds of years, although use of honeybush probably originated with the indigenous Khoisan people.

Tea drinkers describe the taste of honeybush as floral, lightly roasted, and similar to honey. Although it is often compared to rooibos tea, honeybush is usually sweeter and fuller bodied. Some say that the taste is "less medicinal" than rooibos tea. The taste of honeybush that you brew at home will depend on your brewing method and on the particular tea leaves that you buy.