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African Tea Culture
Eastern Africa is one of the world's most prolific black tea producing regions. Kenya is the largest African producer and exporter of black tea. Malawi and Tanzania are the other large black tea producers. Tea is produced in many other countries in Africa to a smaller extent.
South Africa is the world's epicenter of two unique and delicious herbal teas: Roobois tea and honeybush tea. Roobois is Dutch for "Red Bush". While roobois tea is red, the roobois tea plant is green. The leaves turn red in the fermentation process. Roobois tea has no caffeine like herbal teas, but doesn't taste nearly as acrid and astringent as most herbal teas. Roobois tea has a large variety of nutrients not found in black tea and green tea, and is used for its possible medicinal value in South Africa. Honeybush tea is the other South African tea. It is much like roobois but a little sweeter.
Northern Africa is also home to unique tea cultures. "Karkady", a tart hibiscus tea is grown and consumed in Egypt and Sudan, and can now be found in Europe and the US. Moroccans drink a mixture of green tea and spearmint leaves sweetened with sugar.
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