Twinings – Golden Caramel Rooibos
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Twinings Golden Caramel Rooibos is one of a brace of teas that my daughter brought back for me from her visit to Twinings’ flagship tea shop in The Strand. The other was Orange Grove black tea, which I enthusiastically reviewed a few days ago. Golden Caramel Rooibos is another corker.
The Werther’s Original-like flavours of caramel mesh beautifully with the Rooibos base. Rooibos is already quite pudding-y in nature and its sweetish cakey demeanour means it welcomes flavours like caramel with enthusiasm. And this tea certainly is golden. The tea-naming team at Twinings’ headquarters have done their work well here in calling it Golden Caramel Rooibos. The drink, it is as bright and shiny as one of Mr. T’s medallions.
Did you know that Rooibos only grows in one place on the planet? It is endemic to the Cederberg Mountains in South Africa, and not cultivated anywhere else. That’s weird, isn’t it? I feel like we’re only one natural disaster or explosive political situation away from a complete Rooibos blackout.
Most plants grow in more than one place. You can grow tea in Cornwall! Matt Damon even managed to grow potatoes on Mars for a bit in that documentary I saw. The extreme climate in South Africa’s fynbos means that the temperature drops to below freezing in winter and over 40 degrees in the summer. So you’d think that would make the Rooibos plant a sturdy, adaptable sort of affair.
Its refusal to branch out into other areas of the world is apparently down to its symbiotic relationship with the micro-organisms in its environment. So every time you enjoy a cup of Rooibos, you’ve got a bunch of South African micro-organisms to thank for it.
Certainly, the South African geography, climate and hard-working micro-organisms have all done a smashing job when it comes to Twinings Golden Caramel Rooibos. This is a cup of Aspalathus linearis at the very top of its game.
Today’s featured book is The Impostor by South African writer, Damon Galgut.
