Benjamin Ginsberg

OVER 100 YEARS AGO...

Benjamin Ginsberg discovered for himself the amazing taste of rooibos tea.

Riding his horse in the remote and rugged Cedarberg Mountains of the Cape in South Africa, he noticed the local farmers and shepherds drinking a rough brew made from the leaves of the rooibos plant (Aspalathus linearis).

Curious, he stopped to try the brew and was intrigued by its taste - tea-like, yet with a natural sweetness and deliciously soothing.

Fortunately for us, he had learnt all about the delicate art of curing tea from his forbears.

And by applying traditional Chinese curing methods to the leaves of the rooibos plant, he perfected what we now know as rooibos tea, the naturally caffeine free tea.

BY THE LATE 1920s...

the growing demand led to problems with supply of the wild plants. Benjamin decided to find a way to cultivate the plants and enlisted the help of his friend Frans Nortier, a local GP and keen amateur botanist. Using new germination techniques they soon had the first cultivated tea under production.

Today, his grandson runs the family tea company and Tick Tock Original Rooibos Tea remains true to the founder’s original specification.