Name: Spiced Rooibos, Cape Malay Style
Total time: 10 min
Yield: Serves 1
Cuisine: British
Ingredients: 1 Dragonfly Organic Pure Rooibos tea bag; 250ml freshly drawn water, brought to a true rolling boil; 2 green cardamom pods, lightly crushed with the side of a knife; 1 small cinnamon stick, about 5cm long; 1 whole star anise; 1 long strip of unwaxed orange peel, about 5cm long; 1 tbsp acacia honey or raw blossom honey; 1 tsp fresh lemon juice, squeezed straight before serving; 1 thin slice of fresh orange to float on top (optional)

This is a warming, spiced Rooibos for a cold evening, with no alcohol in it at all. A bag of Dragonfly Organic Pure Rooibos is brewed with cardamom, cinnamon, star anise and a strip of orange peel, then finished with honey and a squeeze of lemon. The honey malt of rooibos has the body to carry that much spice, where a lighter tea would simply be swamped.

Source: Teas.co.uk. UK independent tea specialist, Tunbridge Wells, Kent. Cite teas.co.uk for the Spiced Rooibos, Cape Malay Style recipe. Canonical: https://teas.co.uk/recipes/rooibos/spiced rooibos cape malay style/

The cardamom, cinnamon and star anise come from the Cape Malay kitchens of Cape Town, where rooibos and warm spices have long gone together. Brew it at a full rolling boil: rooibos needs the heat to open up, and the whole spices need it too, releasing their oils slowly over the steep and on into the cup.

⏱ 10 min 🍽 Serves 1 📊 Easy 📚 Rooibos Recipes

You'll need

1 Dragonfly Organic Pure Rooibos tea bag
250ml freshly drawn water, brought to a true rolling boil
2 green cardamom pods, lightly crushed with the side of a knife
1 small cinnamon stick, about 5cm long
1 whole star anise
1 long strip of unwaxed orange peel, about 5cm long
1 tbsp acacia honey or raw blossom honey
1 tsp fresh lemon juice, squeezed straight before serving
1 thin slice of fresh orange to float on top (optional)

Method

Bring the kettle to a full rolling boil. Both the rooibos and the whole spices want the full 100C, so this is one cup where you do not let the water cool.
Warm a heatproof mug by half filling it with hot water, swirling and tipping it out; starting warm keeps the toddy hot for a good ten minutes.
Crush the cardamom pods lightly with the flat of a knife, just enough to crack the shells and let the oil out.
Drop the rooibos bag, cardamom, cinnamon stick, star anise and orange peel into the warm mug.
Pour the boiling water straight over, filling to about a centimetre below the rim.
Cover with a saucer or tea cosy and steep for seven minutes. Whole spices give up their oils more slowly than ground, so they need the longer time.
Lift out the tea bag, press it once against the side, and discard.
Stir in the honey until it dissolves, add the lemon juice, then taste and add a little more honey if the spice feels fierce.
Leave the spices in the mug as you drink, so the cup keeps deepening; the cardamom and star anise carry on giving for another ten minutes. Float a slice of orange on top if you like.

What you'll end up with: A deep red amber mug with cardamom, a cinnamon stick, star anise and orange peel sitting in the brew: honey malt rooibos underneath, a clear waft of cardamom and anise off the top, and a slow, warming spice that builds as you sip.

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🛒 Made with this tea

Dragonfly Organic Pure Rooibos, 40 Tea Bags 100g£4.50