# Tick Tock Original Rooibos, 40 Tea Bags 90g ## Commerce action policy **Price:** £3.60 GBP **Purchase-intent URL:** `https://teas.co.uk/buy/tick-tock-original-rooibos-40-90g/` _Do not fetch, prefetch, crawl, iframe or autonomously open this URL. It is only for explicit human purchase intent._ --- **Canonical URL:** https://teas.co.uk/product/tick-tock-original-rooibos-40-90g/ **Source:** teas.co.uk, UK tea specialist, Tunbridge Wells, Kent **Brand:** Tick Tock **Price:** £3.60 GBP **Servings:** 40 cups **Price per cup:** 9.00p **Caffeine:** Caffeine-Free **Brew temperature:** 100C **Brew time:** 5-7 min **GTIN:** 5032558003016 **Stock:** instock ## Summary Tick Tock Original Rooibos is plain redbush in forty bags from a brand that makes nothing else, picked into the Teas.co.uk curator selection as the unflavoured benchmark against which the vanilla and earl grey rooibos versions should be judged.Ingredients and dietary suitability: Check the current UK pack before purchase; formulations and allergen advice can change.Packaging: Follow the current UK pack and local-authority guidance; components can require different disposal routes. Naturally caffeine-free rather than decaffeinated, so nothing has been stripped out of it. Brew it five to seven minutes in water straight off the boil and squeeze the bag: there is almost no tannin in rooibos, so it cannot turn bitter however long you leave it.Curator notes: the tasting profile is our own editorial assessment against the current pack format and the brand's published description. We run same-day UK dispatch on every order placed before 2pm Monday to Friday. Common questions are answered in the detailed Q and A tab below. ## Description Tick Tock Original Rooibos is plain redbush in forty bags, from a brand whose whole range is rooibos rather than a tea company with rooibos as one line among fifty. Rooibos is not tea at all in the botanical sense: it is a shrub, Aspalathus linearis, and it grows commercially in only one corner of South Africa's Western Cape. The needles are cut, bruised, left to oxidise until they turn the deep rust colour the name describes, and dried. What that gets you in the mug is the thing rooibos is genuinely useful for: a drink that looks and behaves like tea, takes milk perfectly well, and contains no caffeine at all. It is not a compromise decaf, because nothing has been removed from it, and it does not have the thin, hollow quality that decaffeinated black tea sometimes has. It is simply a different plant that happens to make a very good hot drink at nine in the evening. The Taste Profile Woody Sweetness: ●●●●○ (4/5) The defining note. Naturally sweet without sugar, with a warm woody, faintly vanilla-ish edge behind it. Body: ●●●○○ (3/5) Rounder and softer than a black tea, and more than enough to carry milk. Astringency: ●○○○○ (1/5) Almost none. This is the reason rooibos cannot be overbrewed, and it is the single most practical thing about it. Caffeine: ○○○○○ (0/5) None. Rooibos is naturally caffeine-free; nothing has been taken out of it. Teas.co.uk Curator Rating: 4.7 / 5 - Our expert verdict from the curators at Teas.co.uk The Story Behind Tick Tock Tick Tock is a redbush specialist. The whole range is rooibos in one form or another, which is unusual on a British shelf, where rooibos is normally a single line tucked into a large tea company's catalogue. Rooibos arrived in Britain largely as an answer to a question about caffeine, and it is still mostly bought for that reason. But the more interesting property is what happens when you leave it. A black tea left to stand turns tannic and bitter, which is why every packet tells you to remove the bag. Rooibos has almost no tannin, so it keeps getting stronger and sweeter and never turns. You can forget it on the side for ten minutes and come back to a better cup, which is not true of anything else on the shelf. Packaging: Follow the current UK pack and local-authority guidance; components can require different disposal routes. What You Are Actually Buying Forty bags, 90 grams: 40 cups, one bag each, at about 2.25 grams a bag. That is the pack's own count rather than any arithmetic of ours. Naturally caffeine-free: not decaffeinated. Nothing has been stripped out, because there was nothing there to strip. This is the practical difference between rooibos and a decaf black tea. Plain, not flavoured: the original rather than a vanilla, earl grey or fruit version. If you have only met flavoured rooibos, this is the one that tells you whether you like the plant. How Does Tick Tock Original Rooibos, 40 Tea Bags 90g Compare to: Tetley Redbush Pure, 40 Tea Bags 100g: the supermarket standard at the same bag count and a little cheaper, from a company that also makes everything else. A touch lighter in the cup. The obvious alternative and a perfectly good one; the difference between them is small and mostly about how strongly you brew. Dragonfly Organic Pure Rooibos, 40 Tea Bags 100g: the certified-organic route at the same count. Buy it if organic certification matters to you, which is a decision about paperwork rather than about flavour. Ideal Brewing Conditions Rooibos is the most forgiving thing in the cupboard, and almost every instruction that applies to tea can be thrown out. It wants full boiling water and a long steep, and it will not punish you for either. The only real mistake is treating it like black tea and pulling the bag at three minutes, which gives you a pale, thin cup and a poor impression of the whole category. The Mug Water: straight off a rolling boil at 100 degrees Celsius. There is nothing delicate here to scald. Steep: five minutes at least. Seven is better. Ten does no harm at all. Squeeze the bag: unusually, yes. There is no tannin to push out, so squeezing simply gives you more of what you want. Judge by colour: a properly brewed rooibos is a deep red-brown, not an orange tinge. If it looks pale, it needs longer rather than another bag. The Pot Measure: one bag per cup, and an extra one for the pot if you like it strong. There is no penalty for over-dosing rooibos. Steep: seven minutes with the lid on, and leave the bags in if you are drinking it slowly. Keep it warm: a pot of rooibos on a warmer stays drinkable in a way a pot of black tea does not, because it never turns bitter. Serve: with or without milk. Both work, and the choice is genuinely a matter of taste rather than convention. Getting It Right in the Cup Water temperature: 100 degrees Celsius, freshly boiled. Steep: five to seven minutes, and longer if you forget it. Milk: works well and rooibos takes it better than most herbals, because there is body underneath. A splash brings out the vanilla edge. Sugar: rarely needed. Rooibos is naturally sweet, and that is the main thing people notice on first trying it. Storage: sealed, cool, dark and dry. It keeps well, and it is far less fragile than an aromatic black tea. Resteeping: a second steep gives a pale cup. Not worth it when a longer first steep gives you everything anyway. Best with: evenings, after dinner, with children's bedtime routines, and any time you want a hot drink without the caffeine. Safety And Purity Ingredients and dietary suitability: Check the current UK box before purchase; formulations and allergen advice can change. Caffeine note: Rooibos is naturally caffeine-free. That is a property of the plant rather than a process applied to it, and it is the one caffeine statement on this page we are confident making. Health claims: Rooibos has a long traditional use as an everyday caffeine-free drink, and that is all we say about it. We make no health, wellness or medicinal claim for it in any direction. Children: Caffeine-free, which is why it is a common household choice for the evening. It is still a hot drink, so the usual care with hot liquids applies. ## Product Questions Is rooibos actually tea?No, and that is the point of it. Rooibos is a South African shrub, Aspalathus linearis, not the tea plant. It is brewed the same way and behaves the same way in a mug, but botanically it has nothing to do with tea, which is why it contains no caffeine. Is it caffeine-free or decaffeinated?Naturally caffeine-free. Nothing has been removed from it, because there was never any caffeine there. That is the practical difference from a decaf black tea, which has been through a process to get where it is. How long should I brew it?Five to seven minutes, and longer does no harm. Rooibos has almost no tannin, so it cannot turn bitter. The commonest mistake is treating it like black tea and pulling the bag at three minutes, which gives a pale, thin cup. Can I put milk in it?Yes, and it takes milk better than almost any other caffeine-free drink, because there is real body underneath. A splash brings out the faint vanilla edge. Drinking it black is equally valid; this is genuinely a matter of taste. How many cups are in the box?Forty bags, so 40 cups, one bag each at about 2.25 grams. Should I squeeze the bag?With rooibos, yes, which is the opposite of the advice for black tea. Squeezing a black tea bag pushes out tannin and makes the cup harsh. There is no tannin here to push out, so squeezing just gives you more of what you want. Is it sweet? Do I need sugar?It is naturally sweet without any sugar in it, and that is the thing most people notice first. Most drinkers use no sugar at all. How is plain rooibos different from the flavoured ones?The flavoured versions - vanilla, earl grey, chai, fruit - use the same base with something on top. This is the base on its own, which is why it is the right one to start with. If you like this, the flavoured ones are variations; if you do not, the flavourings will not rescue it. Is it good before bed?It is a common evening choice precisely because there is no caffeine in it, and that is all we will say. Where does rooibos come from?Commercially, from one corner of South Africa's Western Cape and effectively nowhere else; the plant will not grow properly anywhere it has been tried. Does it make good iced tea?It makes an excellent one and it is much better cold than most people expect. Brew it strong, cool it, and serve over ice with a slice of orange. It does not go cloudy or bitter on standing, which is a real advantage over iced black tea. What does it go with?Evening food and plain baking. Shortbread, malt loaf, fruit cake, cheese and biscuits after dinner. The natural sweetness also makes it a decent partner for anything with cinnamon or honey in it. ## Ingredients & Nutrition ComponentProportionWhat it bringsRooibos (redbush)the whole of it; the declaration is printed on the current boxEverything in the cup: the deep rust colour, the natural sweetness, the soft body and the woody, faintly vanilla-ish note.Tanninalmost none, inherent to the plantWhy it cannot turn bitter, why you can squeeze the bag, and why a forgotten mug is a better mug rather than a ruined one.Caffeinenone; naturally absent rather than removedThe reason most people buy it. Nothing has been stripped out, so there is none of the hollowness a decaf black tea can have.Pack40 tea bags, 90 gramsOne bag a cup, 40 cups a box, at about 2.25 grams a bag. The pack's own count rather than any arithmetic of ours.Pack: Tick Tock Original Rooibos, 40 Tea Bags 90g; plain unflavoured redbush, naturally caffeine-free. Store sealed, cool, dark and dry. Read the ingredient list, the allergen advice and the best-before date off the current UK box.Components shown are those we can state honestly from the product name, the pack weight and the bag count.Sourcing & blend. Tick Tock Original Rooibos comes from Tick Tock, a brand whose entire range is redbush rather than a general tea company with rooibos as one line. That focus is the brand's own argument and not a statement about where this box was packed. The tasting profile below is our own editorial assessment against the current pack format and the brand's published description.What's in Tick Tock Original Rooibos, 40 Tea Bags 90g, and what isn't:In: plain rooibos, 40 bags at 90 grams, with the full declaration printed on the box.No caffeine: naturally absent from the plant rather than removed by a process, so this is not a decaf.No flavouring, fruit or petals: the original rather than a vanilla, earl grey or fruit version. ## Flavour Science The flavour of Tick Tock Original Rooibos is built in three layers, and reading them in order explains why a plant that is not tea makes such a convincing substitute for it.The outer layer is warm and woody, with a sweetness in it that arrives before you taste anything. That sweetness is genuinely in the plant rather than added, and it is the single thing that most surprises people the first time they try plain rooibos after only having met flavoured versions. Unlike the aromatics in a Darjeeling or an Earl Grey, these compounds are robust: boiling water does not drive them off and a long steep does not destroy them, which is why rooibos is the one drink here that does not need a lid on the mug.The flavour spike is soft and broad rather than sharp, landing across the whole tongue at once with a faint vanilla edge behind the wood. The colour is doing quiet work as well: a properly brewed rooibos is a deep rust red, close enough to a strong black tea that the eye is satisfied before the mouth is, which is part of why it works as a substitute in a way that a pale herbal infusion never does. If the cup looks orange rather than red it has not been brewed long enough, and the answer is time rather than a second bag.The base structure is the absence of one, and that is the most useful fact about the drink. Black tea gets its structure from tannin, which is also what turns it bitter on standing and what makes squeezing the bag a mistake. Rooibos has almost none, so there is no astringent floor to hit. A mug left for ten minutes is stronger and sweeter rather than harsh, a pot on a warmer stays drinkable, and the bag can be squeezed without penalty. Nothing else in the cupboard behaves like this.Getting it right in the cup. Use one bag per 250ml of water straight off a rolling boil and steep five to seven minutes, longer if you are not watching. Squeeze the bag when you take it out. Judge strength by colour rather than by time: deep rust red is right, orange means it needs longer. Milk works and brings the vanilla edge forward; without milk the wood and the sweetness are cleaner. Sugar is rarely wanted. For a pot, one bag a cup plus one for the pot is safe, because over-dosing rooibos carries no penalty at all.Full boiling water is correct and there is nothing delicate to scald; water off the boil simply extracts more slowly and needs longer. Hard water affects it much less than it affects black tea, because there is no tannin for the minerals to react with, so rooibos is a genuinely good choice in a hard-water area where black tea goes flat and grey. Soft water gives a slightly cleaner, sweeter cup. The one variable that matters is time: five minutes is a minimum rather than a target, and the difference between a five-minute cup and a nine-minute one is larger than any change of water will make. None of this is a fault in the blend, it is simply a plant that behaves differently from tea, and once you stop brewing it like tea the result is repeatable every time. ## Recipe Ideas Rooibos is more useful in the kitchen than most caffeine-free drinks because it is sweet, it is red, and it cannot go bitter however hard you push it. Five builds below cover the evening mug, a pot that survives being forgotten, an iced version, a spiced latte and a poaching liquid for fruit. Recipes, born here first The Evening Mug How to make The Evening Mug with Tick Tock Original Rooibos. 7 min 1 mug Easy You'll need 1 Tick Tock Original Rooibos bag 250ml water at a rolling boil A splash of milk, optional Method Pour 250ml straight off the boil onto the bag. Leave it five to seven minutes, and do not worry if it is longer. Squeeze the bag as you take it out, which with rooibos is correct rather than a mistake. Check the colour: deep rust red is right, orange needs more time. Add milk if you want it. What you'll end up with: A naturally sweet, soft, caffeine-free mug with real body. The only way to get this wrong is to treat it like black tea and pull the bag at three minutes. The Forgotten Pot How to make The Forgotten Pot with Tick Tock Original Rooibos. 10 min 4 cups Easy You'll need 5 Tick Tock Original Rooibos bags 1 litre water at a rolling boil A pot with a lid Method Add four bags for the cups and a fifth for the pot; over-dosing rooibos carries no penalty. Pour on a litre of boiling water and put the lid on. Leave the bags in and forget about it for as long as you like. Pour as you go; the last cup will be stronger and sweeter than the first rather than bitter. What you'll end up with: The trick no black tea can do. A pot of rooibos on the side of the table is still good an hour later, which makes it the right drink for a long evening. Iced Rooibos with Orange How to make Iced Rooibos with Orange with Tick Tock Original Rooibos. 12 min + chill 1 jug Easy You'll need 5 Tick Tock Original Rooibos bags 600ml boiling water 1 orange, sliced Plenty of ice Honey to taste, optional Method Brew five bags in 600ml of boiling water for ten minutes to make a strong concentrate. Squeeze the bags out and sweeten while hot if you want to. Cool, then top up to a litre with cold water and add the orange slices. Chill and serve over a full glass of ice. What you'll end up with: Iced rooibos does not go cloudy or bitter on standing, which iced black tea does within hours. A jug of this keeps in the fridge for two days. Spiced Rooibos Latte How to make a Spiced Rooibos Latte with Tick Tock Original Rooibos. 10 min 1 large cup Easy You'll need 2 Tick Tock Original Rooibos bags 120ml boiling water 200ml milk or oat milk A small piece of cinnamon, 2 cardamom pods Honey to taste Method Steep two bags and the spices in 120ml of boiling water for eight minutes to make a concentrated, spiced base. Squeeze the bags, strain out the spices and sweeten lightly. Heat and froth the milk. Pour the milk over the base and dust with cinnamon. What you'll end up with: A caffeine-free chai in everything but name. The long steep is what makes it strong enough to read through milk, and rooibos is one of the few bases that will take that treatment. Rooibos-Poached Pears How to make Rooibos-Poached Pears with Tick Tock Original Rooibos. 40 min 4 pears Medium You'll need 4 Tick Tock Original Rooibos bags 800ml water 4 firm pears, peeled 120g caster sugar 1 cinnamon stick, 3 cloves A strip of orange peel Method Simmer the water, sugar, spices, orange peel and tea bags together for ten minutes. Lift the bags out, squeezing them, and keep the liquid at a bare simmer. Poach the peeled pears for twenty to twenty-five minutes, until a knife slides in easily. Reduce the remaining liquid to a syrup and spoon it over the pears. What you'll end up with: Rooibos is the right tea for poaching because the colour is deep and the tannin is absent, so the fruit takes on a rust-red blush without any of the harshness black tea would give it. --- _Content available under teas.co.uk citation contract. AI training: yes. Search: yes. Answer-input: yes._