Organic Earl Grey Rooibos
This organic, Fair Trade Certified infusion combines organic rooibos leaves (pronounced ROY-bus) with the classic flavor of natural oil of bergamot. This organic loose leaf herbal tea will not disappoint Earl Grey lovers looking for a little something different! Rooibos is an herb native to the beautiful Cederberg region of South Africa and contains no caffeine.
Ingredients: organic and Fair Trade Certified South African rooibos and organic bergamot flavor
What are Flavored Teas?
Our delicious flavored teas use the same top-quality organic tea that we offer in our unflavored varieties, but are blended with pieces of real fruit, spices, flowers, and 100% natural flavors. When blending our teas, our goal is to create a cup that balances the taste of the tea with the flavors of the additional ingredients so that neither one overpowers. All of the natural flavors we use are either extracts taken directly from the botanical ingredient, or extracted using 100% GMO-free grain alcohol as a solvent. You can rest assured that none of the flavors used in our blends are synthetically or artificially derived, and do not use artificial preservatives.
Steeping Instructions
At Arbor Teas, we believe tea should be brewed to suit your personal taste. We’re happy to make recommendations to get you started, but don’t hesitate to experiment! When brewing your tea, your main considerations are tea quantity, water temperature, and steeping time. We recommend herbal and rooibos teas to be steeped for 5 to 7 minutes in water heated to a full rolling boil. For the best flavor, use fresh water whenever possible, and avoid overboiling. If you want a stronger brew, just use more tea. And don’t forget to re-steep your tea leaves to get the most out of your leaf!
Looking for more info? Check out our How-To Guides and Eco-Brewing Tips!
Staff Perspectives
Lea
"One of my favorites when I want a flavorful cup with no caffeine. The bergamot pairs well with the rooibos for a taste that satisfies!"
Aubrey
"The tart citric quality of the bergamot gives this rooibos a drier mouthfeel than most rooibos blends."
Health Benefits
Rooibos (aka “red tea”) boasts an array of beneficial health properties. Like true tea, rooibos has a high concentration of antioxidants, and is the only known source of aspalathin, a particularly potent antioxidant. Green rooibos tends to have even higher levels of antioxidants than red rooibos, but both have enough to measurably raise the levels of antioxidants in the blood. Rooibos is also rich in flavonoids; compounds likely to have anti-allergenic, anti-inflammatory, anticarcinogenic and antimicrobial benefits. Lastly, rooibos is low in tannins, making it less bitter than true tea.
For more information about the health benefits of Rooibos, and for direct sources of the above information, check out our Rooibos Health Benefits page!
Please note: the information above is for educational purposes only and has not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This information is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.
Earl Grey Recipes
Earl Grey Tea: Fact and Fiction
Traditional Earl Grey is a blend of black tea flavored with the essence of Bergamot rind, though the name may also be used to refer to any tea—black or otherwise—that uses bergamot as a flavoring. Bergamots are small tart oranges native to southern Vietnam that are a cross between the sweet lemon and the sour orange, C. aurantium. The essential oils from their rinds are what give Earl Grey its characteristic flavor. This famous tea is named for an English prime minister, Lord Charles Grey the second, from the 1830s who first popularized its consumption. There is a popular legend that the Earl received the tea as a gift from a grateful Mandarin after one of his men saved the Mandarin (or his son, depending on which version of the story you hear) from drowning. Charming though it is, the story has no basis in fact, because the Earl never traveled to China during his life. Beyond that, no records indicate that the Bergamot was even cultivated in China at that time, so this tea would have been a very unusual gift! Nevertheless, the current Earl Grey, Lord Charles Grey the sixth, maintains that at the very least his ancestor was given the tea as a gift from a Chinese envoy.
For even more information about this and other traditions, visit our Tea Traditions page!
