After our few days in Clanwilliam learning about the cultivation of rooibos, Arend Redelinghuys of Rooibos Ltd drove Pearl Dexter and myself right across the southern tip of the country to the Cape Mountains that stretch across the border between the Western Cape and the Eastern Cape province. 

We travelled for 2 days along from Paarl to Oudtshoorn, pausing at times to enjoy the scenery, taste the local wines, learn how Klipdrift brandy is made, and to watch the ostriches that are farmed in this area trotting about in the fields – they’re such odd-looking creatures and seem to love company for as soon as we walked up to the fence of their enclosure, they all headed straight over towards us, their necks straining upwards, straight as periscopes to allow them to scan the horizon.  

On the third day we reached the farm near Joubertina where Johann Kritzinger processes honeybush.  Johann is a fruit farmer, growing peaches, nectarines, apples, plums and pears – some of which reach us here in the UK – but he has also been very closely involved in developing the production of honeybush.

Like rooibos, the honeybush plant is a member of the ‘fynbos’ or ‘fine bush’ family.  It looks very like the broom bushes we grow in our gardens and has beautiful bright yellow flowers.  Also like rooibos, it is very choosy about where it will grow - it’s happy here on the dry, rocky slopes of the Cape Mountains but refuses to set down its roots anywhere else.  It’s much more difficult to cultivate and harvest on a commercial basis than rooibos and needs a lot more care in terms of weeding, watering and protecting from other plants. 

Here are some of the workers on the fruit farm enjoying their lunch break in a shady spot outside the honeybush factory.

Whereas rooibos bushes give a good harvest for several years before they need to be replaced with new plants, the honeybush plants tends to die back soon after the first harvest. The farmers are experimenting with 4 or 5 different varietals carefully selected from 24 or more possibles in order to establish a successful industry here.  At the moment honeybush is still a rare herbal infusion and will remain so until the farmers work out how to cultivate it more easily and successfully.  On the right is a photo of Johann’s experimental plantings with three different varietals.

Because the plant is so hard to cultivate on a formal basis, most of the processed honeybush that reaches us consumers is made from the stems and leaves of wild plants that grow amongst the heathers, proteas and other fynbos  up on the hillsides.  Local people gather what they can but if they cut off the branches more often than every two years, the plants die so they have to be very selective and very controlled.  We drove up into the steep wildness of the mountain slopes and learnt to recognise the honeybush from amongst so many similar plants.

When the local workers have gathered bundles of wild honeybush, the crop is delivered to Johann’s factory where it goes through similar processing to rooibos.  The stems and leaves are milled to break them down and the mass of small particles is then put into long tanks filled with very hot water.  This steaming, fermentation part of the process lasts for 24 hours and as we walked through the factory, the air was rich with a wonderfully sweet, malty aroma that reminded us of fresh-baked fruit cakes and Assam tea.  

Next, the wet mush travels along a conveyor belt to the dryer and from there it goes into a series of sifters and secondary cutters that break down any pieces of stem and bark that are too rough and tough.  What Johann ends up with is bagfuls of different sized particles – all of them rusty red and sweetly aromatic.

As well as finding out about the actual processing of honeybush, we also asked about honeybush’s health benefits.  I knew that indigenous groups had drunk honeybush for hundreds of years as a tonic brew but I didn’t know why and we learned that it’s caffeine-free, full of anti-oxidants and that, like rooibos, it seems to have a calming, anti-spasmodic effect.  It’s also thought to be very effective against breathing problems, coughs and respiratory infections.  When we tasted it in the factory, we really liked its gentle smooth taste.  It’s light, sweet and very refreshing.

From the factory, we walked down to the newly planted baby bushes that Johann is nurturing.  We also stopped to look at a new gym that is being built with Fairtrade money that has been paid back to the farm.  As well as the gym itself, there is to be a rugby and football field, netball facilities, a playroom, a crèche and refreshments.  Great to see the money being used so well.

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