While in South Africa I visited the nearby Sanditon Centre and made a search for tea. I knew that I would find rooibos tea, but I also found another herbal tea.
I found this in a health food store and the manager of the store let me smell some of this from an open container he had. It had a wonderful mint like smell to it, so decided that I would buy some to give it a try.
Plus, I thought a good Detox Tea may be good for me. The side of the box listed a number of the detox properties of Buchu. Perhaps it can give me some relief from some of the allergies that I have. Or perhaps that sore knee will feel a little better. Plus, a bit of a diuretic to help flush out harmful toxins may also help with weight loss.
The tea comes in tagless tea bags which is typical for South Africa. This tea comes from a flowering plant knows as round leaf buchu. The scientific name is Agathosma betulina and it has been used for centuries by the indigenous people in South Africa as a remedy for various disorders. The oils from the plant are also used in some commercial medicines today.
I brewed the tea in my glass tea cup so that I could easily see the color of the tea as it steeped.
The color is a lovely yellow, but is not too dark.
The taste is not very strong but it has a bit of an earthy mint flavor with some faint fruity notes as well. It is interesting that the oils from the Buchu plant are sometimes used for currant flavoring.
As to the health benefits, I will maybe drink a few cups over the next few days and see if I start having to make frequent trips to the fluid recycling center.
Steven
Braman's Wanderings 