Blending and selection
The flavour of honeybush is wonderfully diverse. It takes on different characteristics depending on the species, provenance, harvesting, fermentation and processing. No wild honeybush plant is the same, and even cultivated plants absorb the particular quality of a farmer’s care for his crops. All this may go some way to explaining why honeybush tea cannot be seen or traded as a single commodity.
We make sense of this incredible complexity with our meticulous selection, separation and blending. Our in-house experts dedicate a lot of time and energy to sourcing and harnessing the tea into fine blends of varied taste profiles.
A wide variety of flavours
As with any agricultural product, the flavour of honeybush tea will vary depending on the area where it was grown, the time it was harvested, and the way it was processed. We provide four different species of honeybush, each with distinct flavor profiles. We think it’s important to celebrate the diversity nature gives us, and we work with our customers to find the species or blend that suits their needs.
Honeybush Tea
Wild harvested honeybush
Cultivated honeybush
Blends
How it’s grown
Sustainable wild harvesting
The Honeybush Company (formerly known as The Langkloof Honeybush Company) works with farmers to implement sustainable wild harvesting plans developed for each property. Wild populations of Cyclopia intermedia growing in the mountainous areas of the Langkloof are harvested in full compliance with sustainable wild harvesting guidelines and harvesters are trained to harvest in compliance with these guidelines. Our wild harvested tea is EU and USDA Organically Certified by Control Union.
Sustainable cultivation practices
Other Honeybush species (Longifolia, maculata and subtenata) are cultivated by farmers in the Langkloof Valley who collaborate with the Langkloof Honeybush Company. Though they are not yet organically certified, crops are grown using organic farming techniques and never sprayed with pesticides. A costly process, certification is often prohibitive for individual farmers, though the company is exploring whether it might be feasible.
