The Cederberg, and why it matters
Rooibos grows commercially in one mountain range and nowhere else, despite repeated attempts to establish it elsewhere. That is unusual: most botanicals in this catalogue are grown across several continents. The concentration is why rooibos carries a protected designation and why 'Cederberg' functions as an appellation rather than a decoration.
How both are made
Cut, bruised and left to oxidise in heaps, which turns the green needles red — a process closer to black tea manufacture than to drying a herb. Green rooibos skips the oxidation and is a genuinely different product sold under the same name. Honeybush is processed the same way and is the sweeter of the two.
How they are drunk at home
With milk and sugar, in an ordinary mug, in a pattern that mirrors British tea habits directly. This is worth stating because the export market presents rooibos almost exclusively as a wellness product, and that is not what it is where it comes from.
Honeybush and the harvest problem
Much honeybush is still wild-harvested, and several Cyclopia species are gathered and sold under one name. Pressure on wild stands is a real issue and cultivation is expanding in response — cultivated material is not a lesser product here.
Brewing
Both are unusually forgiving. There is very little astringency to manage, so a long steep does not punish you, and both take milk without collapsing. This is why rooibos is the standard recommendation for someone who wants a tea-shaped drink without caffeine.