Editing Rooibos (section)

== Production and processing ==
[[File:Greenrooibos.jpg|thumb|Green rooibos tea]]
[[File:Frisch aufgebrühter Rooibos.jpg|thumb|Rooibos tea in a glass]]
[[File:Коробка з чаєм ройбуш у пакетах та заварений чай із молоком.jpg|thumb|Rooibos tea with milk]]
[[File:Rooibos-001.jpg|thumb|A rooibos-infused liqueur and rooibos tea]]
Rooibos is usually grown in the [[Cederberg]], a small mountainous area in the [[West Coast District Municipality|West Coast District]] of the [[Western Cape]] province of [[South Africa]].<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Muofhe | first1 = M.L. | last2 = Dakora | first2 = F.D. | year = 1999 | title = Nitrogen nutrition in nodulated field plants of the shrub tea legume Aspalathus linearis assessed using <sup>15</sup>N natural abundance | journal = Plant and Soil | volume = 209 | issue = 2| pages = 181–186 | doi = 10.1023/A:1004514303787 | bibcode = 1999PlSoi.209..181M | s2cid = 27188520 }}</ref>

Generally, the leaves undergo oxidation.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Abudureheman |first1=Buhailiqiemu |last2=Yu |first2=Xiaochun |last3=Fang |first3=Dandan |last4=Zhang |first4=Henghui |title=Enzymatic Oxidation of Tea Catechins and Its Mechanism |journal=Molecules |date=January 2022 |volume=27 |issue=3 |pages=942 |doi=10.3390/molecules27030942 |pmid=35164208 |pmc=8840101 |doi-access=free }}</ref> This process produces the distinctive reddish-brown colour of rooibos and enhances the flavour. Unoxidised ''green'' rooibos is also produced, but the more demanding production process for green rooibos (similar to the method by which [[green tea]] is produced) makes it more expensive than traditional rooibos. It carries a malty and slightly grassy flavour somewhat different from its red counterpart.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Standley|first=L|author2=Winterton, P |author3=Marnewick, JL |author4=Gelderblom, WC |author5=Joubert, E |author6= Britz, TJ |title=Influence of processing stages on antimutagenic and antioxidant potentials of rooibos tea.|journal=Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry|date=January 2001|volume=49|issue=1|pages=114–7|pmid=11170567|doi=10.1021/jf000802d|bibcode=2001JAFC...49..114S}}</ref>