A Rooibos Cocktail: Rooibos Orange Sour
This post for Rooibos Cocktail was first published on the 16th of December 2020.
This Rooibos cocktail was made in collaboration with Emilie at Good & Proper Tea.
During the past decade of my work in the coffee industry, I have had the pleasure of meeting some of the most amazing and creative people out there. One of these is the lovely Emilie from Good & Proper Tea.
It was pretty logical for me to reach out to Emilie, founder of Good & Proper Tea. I thought about working together on a tasty cocktail for Christmas & World Tea Day. And this is how we came up with this Rooibos & Orange Sour cocktail.
But before I move on to the rooibos cocktail itself. Let me give you a little bit of history on how I got to meet the people behind Good & Proper. Emilie and I go way back. We met for the first time when I was a wee little barista at my job. Good & Proper Tea had their 1974 converted van stationed outside Kings Cross in London. I used to pop there for tea – and delicious crumpets – over my lunch break. Later down the line, we worked together closely on other projects. And each time I got to speak to Emilie, or anyone in her team really, it has been a great experience and an absolute pleasure.
I was always in love with their teas and ethos. And, as I am terrible with coming up with cocktails from scratch… It was obvious that I had to reach out to them for some boozy help.
I am planning to learn a bit about mixology at some point, so stay tuned!
What is rooibos tea and where is it from?
Also commonly known as red tea or red bush tea, rooibos tea is traditionally made by fermenting the leaves of the flowering shrub, Aspalathus Linearis. This shrub is native to South Africa and also exists as green. It’s a beautiful alternative to green or black tea considering it’s naturally caffeine-free.
Some of the potential benefits you can find by drinking rooibos tea are:
- as mentioned just before, it’s naturally caffeine-free;
- it’s low in tannins, which interfere with the body’s absorbtion of iron;
- rooibos tea is rich in antioxidants, which are also important for the health of our hearts;
- it’s helpful to keep your blood sugar levels under control, especially if you have diabetes;
- surprisingly, if you apply rooibos tea topically, it will help improve the appearance of your skin by reducing wrinkles.
I mean, given all these, I think we can safely say rooibos is your next drink of choice. I enjoy mine with a dash of milk, so yummy!
What is a sour cocktail?
A sour is a mixed cocktail, one of the oldest cocktails around! It’s a mix of a base of liquor, lemon or lime juice and a sweetener of your choice. Egg whites are also included in some sours, like in this rooibos cocktail we are about to show you.
The alcohol of choice here is more down to your preference from the following:
- gin
- bourbon whiskey
- brandy
- rum
You can also use Amaretto, Tequila and Midori. Honestly, the options here are endless.
What ingredients do I need to make this Rooibos & Orange Sour cocktail?
For our rooibos cocktail, we will need to make a rooibos tea concentrate. Once that is ready, it will be a matter of filling a cocktail shaker with vodka, lemon juice and egg whites. It goes without saying that the ingredients need to be of the highest quality here, of course. Make sure your egg whites are fresh and that you use freshly squeezed lemon juice. For the vodka, we have used plain vodka, but Marmalade Vodka from Chase is what Emilie mentioned would work better. Adjust your sweetness accordingly if you cannot get your hands on this particular one.
How do I make this Rooibos & Orange Sour cocktail?
A simple yet delicious rooibos cocktail will take minutes to make. All you will need to do is pour all the ingredients but the ice and garnish in a shaker and shake. Add the ice and shake until the shaker is icy cold. Last, but not least, pour over ice and garnish. Bish, bash, bosh. Your rooibos cocktail is ready to be enjoyed. Maybe on the sofa while watching a nice movie, or in good company with friends and family.
This Rooibos & Orange Sour cocktail is the perfect drink to sip together with the extremely small amount of family we can see this year. We wanted to bring warmth and festive flavours. Without overpowering the taste of the Rooibos tea, which is one of our favourites.
Without further ado, here is the recipe for this tasty rooibos cocktail.
Rooibos & Orange Sour
Ingredients
- 100 ml of Rooibos Concentrate
- 100 ml of Chase Marmalade Vodka
- 50 ml of lemon Juice
- 50 ml of Egg Whites
- Ice
- Some thyme for garnish
- For the Rooibos tea concentrate
- 6 g of Good & Proper Rooibos Loose Leaf Tea
- 100 ml of boiling filtered water
Instructions
- Start by preparing your Rooibos tea concentrate by brewing 6g (3 heaped teaspoons) with 100ml boiling water for 5 minutes, then strain.
- Put all your other ingredients but the ice in a shaker and dry shake to combine all the flavours for about 30 seconds.
- Once shaken, add plenty of ice and shake vigorously, until the outside of the shaker is ice-cold.
- Distribute the drink with the help of a cocktail strainer between two whisky glasses with a little ice.
- Garnish each with a sprig of thyme and serve.
Shop the post
Whisky Glass Set of 4, £17.99 / Cocktail Making Set, £11.99 / Black Cow Vodka 70cl, £20.00 / Good & Proper Tea Book, £10.18
We hope you will enjoy this Rooibos and Orange Sour cocktail. If you are in need of any tea equipment. Or just want to know more about tea, check out the Ultimate Tea Gift Guide. It’s full of great products for tea connoisseurs or newbies alike!
If you are still after some gift ideas for this coming Christmas, check out our gift guides. From the best Christmas craft kits to the best eco-friendly gifts for Christmas, home lifestyle gift ideas and the best Christmas beauty gift ideas. Check out the best Christmas board games and the best book lover presents. Also, check out the latest guide on the best unique stationery gifts, best Christmas craft kits, the best travel lover gifts, the best coffee aficionado gifts and keep an eye open for the absolute last gift guide to come!
And if you are after some recipes, why not check some of these out: we have a vegan clementine curd, the cutest stained glass window cookies, mini Christmas puddings bonbon, southern buttermilk pie and some no-bake cookie truffles. But also a bourbon berry pie from Fred, some white chocolate fudge, a blood orange negroni, a gingerbread syrup recipe, a spicy eggnog easy recipe and some mini candy cane cookies from Lynn. And if you are after a vegan main, check out this mushroom Wellington recipe with a side of satay roasted brussels sprouts. But also check out these Rice Krispies Christmas Puddings and this Gingerbread Syrup recipe! There is also this guide on easy Christmas Martinis you need to check out!
Which one is your favourite Christmas cocktail? Let us know in the comments!
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We’ve never heard of Rooibos before. It looks cool though!
Thank you x
I have never tried a sour cocktail before. The egg does put me off slightly ha ha! I prefer more fruity and sweet cocktails. Thank you for sharing your recipe.
Lauren
Thank you for reading Lauren x
I’d never heard of rooibos tea before, but it’s nice to know it’s caffeine free as I can’t drink caffeine as is causes me to have psychosis. It’s also not good for the issues I have with my heart either. Thus, if it had caffeine I wouldn’t have been able to try this cocktail, but now I can
Rooibos tea is such a nice alternative to all the caffeine packed tea!
Well this is a new one for me – I’ve never heard of Rooibos tea before! I don’t really drink alcohol but I’m sure there’s a way to create this as a mocktail! It looks so good and festive too!
Sparkling water and an alcohol free alternative should make the trick!
Healthy and caffeine-free tea sounds lovely.
Thank you Jamie x
Yum! I had never heard of Rooibos tea until this post, but I love tea and I love a good sour so I will have to give this a try! I am intrigued by all the health benefits as well!
Thank you Heidi x
Oh, gosh this sounds wonderful — thanks for sharing this recipe!
Thank you for reading Molly x
You had me sold at sour. This sounds like such a brilliant drink that I’d certainly be keen to try!
https://www.femaleoriginal.com
Thank you Faye – love your feedback x
Looks and sounds delicious and delightful. Very vintage and reminds me of old cocktail parties and actually socializing with people pre-pandemic… anyhow, cheers and here’s to the future! Happy Holidays!
Happy holidays Mark!
I’ve only had red bush tea once or twice but remember liking it. This sounds like a fun cocktail to try out, and looks delicious too!
Thank you Anika x
Seems like a new recipe to try out. I’ve never heard of it.
Hope you like Anita x
This is one for the Christmas day list! Excellent. Looks like I’m working boxing day with a hangover!
HAAAAAA hopefully it was not too bad!
Hmmm – I am not keen on Rooibos BUT … 2 things I have taken from this post – one is you can get green Rooibos and as I love l green tea this needs investigating and second, amaretto makes anything take good so that would be my alcohol of choice.
Definitely worth looking into green rooibos, I am curious as well!
Ooo I’m loving the sound of this. I’ve got a girlie night tonight so I think I’ll be buying the stuff to make these. Looks delish! Thank you so much for sharing lovely Xo
Elle – ellegracedeveson.com
Hope you ladies enjoyed it x
This looks so delicious, lovely idea..
Thank you!
Sounds deelish! Will try it!
Thank you Claudia! Let us know when you do, we would like to know your thoughts! X
Wow this sounds delicious! I love Rooibos tea and never thought of as an ingredient in a cocktail! Thanks for sharing.
Thank you Jodie! It is very delicious:)
This recipe caught my eye immediately because Rooibos is from South Africa (where I live). We can go on and on about how it’s so special (no caffeine and plenty of antioxidants). It looks like a great recipe, I’ll have to try it 🙂
All the best, Michelle (michellesclutterbox.com)
Thank you for the sweet words Michelle! We love a good Rooibos here, so this cocktail was the perfect fit. Let us know your thoughts after, and thank you for reading us all the way from SA. 🙂
This sounds like such an interesting drink. I don’t think I’ve ever tried anything close to the flavours mixed together in this! x
I didn’t either! I never drank cocktails with an egg white in but it was delicious!
I’ve never tried a Christmas cocktail before but this sounds delicious. I could definitely drink a couple of these over the festive season.
This was absolutely delicious! I have also created a Christmas Negroni that’s coming out on Christmas Eve, if you need any other ideas! Xx
This looks an absolutely gorgeous Christmas cocktail! I love Rooibos tea and haven’t seen anything like this before to use it. I no longer drink alcohol, but I am sure it would be so easy to substitute the vodka. I hope you are all getting into the festive spirit 🙂
Helen x
Thank you so much for the sweet comment Helen! If you want to look at a substitute for vodka, have a look at Seedlip. I used them in the past, and they are great! They are at most supermarkets, so easy to find! Xx
Hola,
What an excellent article. I’m going try it out.
Adriana
Thank you Adriana, let us know what you think!
Great collaboration and the cocktail looks very good. Great work!
Thank you Fransic!