The Rooibos plants are ready for harvesting
two years from planting, and are in full production after three
years. A mature plant yields 113g to 226g of dry tea per crop.
The feasible lifespan of a producing plant is six to seven years.
Freshly-cut plant material is bruised, turned and wet three
times to stimulate enzyme activity, after which it is spread
in heaps and covered with bags to ferment for up to 24 hours.
Finally, the tea (now uniformly red-brown) is spread out in
this a thin layer to sun-dry. It is sifted, bagged and delivered
to processors, where it is graded, mechanically screened of
any foreign matter, and finally classified and packed. A quality
certificate is supplied to shippers. |
