Rooibos seeds are sown between February to March and the seedlings transplanted a few months later. It takes about 18 months before plants can be harvested for the first time. Each spring the plant is covered with small yellow flowers. Each flower produces a small legume with a single seed inside. The Rooibos seeds pop out when they are ripe and can therefore be difficult to collect. Early Rooibos farmers got hold of the local wisdom that ants harvested the seeds and that they could collect Rooibos seeds from anthills. Today, most farmers collect the seeds by sifting the sand around the plants.

The sheaves are machine-cut to uniform lengths of between 1.5 mm and 5 mm. Cuttings are bruised to facilitate the natural plant phenolic activities which develop the characteristic colour and flavour of this tea, hence the name rooibos (Red Bush).

Green rooibos is made from the same plant as traditional rooibos, the only difference is in the processing. For traditional rooibos, the green leaves and stems of the plant are crushed and “fermented” before drying. The fermentation step is actually an oxidation process brought about by enzymes and chemicals naturally present in the plant. In the case of green rooibos, the fermentation process is skipped, and the “green” leaves and stems are dried directly. Different processes are used to prevent oxidation.

Green (unfermented) rooibos infusion has a lighter tan/yellow colour and a very mild “green” taste reminiscent of green tea.

After sifting, the tea is sterilised through steam pasteurisation and dried over hot air beds. The steam temperature during pasteurisation is 135°C and the product temperature is 94°C for a minimum of 90 seconds. All rooibos, whether for domestic use or the export market, is steam pasteurized to ensure a product of high microbial quality.