"A nice cup of bush tea." For those of you who have read The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency novels or have watched Jill Scott do an excellent job as patience on the wonderful HBO series, you'll recognize her panacea for all problems.
"Bush tea" is rooibos, made from a plant from southern Africa. It's caffeine free and high in antioxidants, which has increased its popularity in the West--my local grocery carries it.
In South Africa, citified up, it is now also made espresso fashion, with lattes and cappucinos--even a rooibos-flavored liqueur. But brewed the old way, it still is believed to calm the nerves and refresh.
Nigeria doesn't have rooibos, but similar beliefs in calming effects promote a red tea (an herbal infusion, really) made from hibiscus flower sepals--sometimes called sorrel (sure or sooborodo in the North). It's popular throughout West Africa, up through the Gambia and Senegal, and in other spots as well--North Africa and the Middle East, for example.
Throughout the Caribbean, cold sorrel drinks are used at Christmas and other times, particularly in Jamaica and Trinidad. The former often combine it with ginger.
Feeling left out? You needn't. Hibiscus is the main ingredient in the popular Celestial Seasonings line of "Zinger" teas (Orange Tangerine Zinger is my favorite).
And why the tea digression? Anything calming that lifts the spirits is essential in today's bustle, when slipping behind is all too easy. Like Botswana's fictional Patience Ramotswe, we'd all do better to take a seat from time to time, reflecting and regrouping with some African tea, whether rooibos or sure--researchers are even finding that the latter is good for high blood pressure.
The slow pace of the novels and the show, so much the antithesis of action-driven plots, is like taking a deep breath and returning to equilibrium. And if tea of any kind can do that...I need some now!
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