Small heaps of loose rust-red rooibos needles and dried green peppermint leaves on a pale stone board beside a glass cup of amber-red infusion

Mariage Frères Rooibos Guide: Red Teas From the Cederberg

October 1, 2026

Mariage Frères sells rooibos as "red tea," a name taken from the color of the cup rather than from the tea plant. The rust-colored needles come from a South African shrub with a protected name and a processing method of its own, and they brew a naturally caffeine-free cup. The Paris house scents them the way it scents its teas: with vanilla, with the fruit and flower profile of its Marco Polo, with citrus and marigold. Whether the house is worth its price is taken up in the guide to what makes Mariage Frères tea worth it.

The house

Mariage Frères dates itself to 1 June 1854, when the brothers Henri and Édouard Mariage founded the tea house in Paris. Its site files rooibos as a separate family from its teas and describes its red teas as theine-free. The rooibos itself comes from South Africa, and the character of the cup starts there.

What rooibos is

Rooibos is Aspalathus linearis, a fynbos shrub. The SA Rooibos Council says it grows naturally in only one place in the world, the Cederberg mountains, about 200 km north of Cape Town, where local communities have brewed it for centuries. The plants are cut to about 30 cm from the ground during the summer harvest.

The processing is short and blunt. The council describes the green stems and leaves being cut, bruised and left in heaps to oxidize, a step the industry calls fermentation. That oxidation, driven by the plant's own enzymes, gives rooibos its amber color. The rooibos is then dried in the sun, sifted and graded. Unfermented green rooibos exists too, with a paler cup and a very mild taste the council likens to green tea; the three blends below are built on red rooibos.

The council describes the finished cup as naturally sweet, slightly nutty and honey-like. The council says it is never bitter, which is why it plays so well with milk, honey, spices or a slice of lemon. Oxidation in the tea plant, for comparison, is covered in the guide to how tea is made.

A protected name

In May 2021 the European Union entered "Rooibos" and "Red Bush" in its register of protected designations of origin, by Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2021/865, after considering an opposition filed by the United Kingdom. The specification says the only raw material is the freshly harvested leaves and stems of Aspalathus linearis, and it sets a range for aspalathin, a compound the council describes as unique to rooibos. The registration is an EU rule, but it fixes what the word means there: rooibos is one plant from a defined area of South Africa, however it is scented afterward.

Three rooibos blends

Rouge Bourbon (shop Rouge Bourbon) pairs South African rooibos with a single addition, Bourbon vanilla. The house says the vanilla is measured to balance the rooibos without leaving bitterness or an aftertaste. Bourbon is the old name of Réunion, the French island in the Indian Ocean, and the story of the vanilla grown there is in the history of vanilla guide. This is the tin to try with milk and a spoon of honey.

Marco Polo Rouge (shop Marco Polo Rouge) moves the scent of the house's Marco Polo onto rooibos. The house describes it as scented with fruits and flowers from China and Tibet, with a velvety taste. The Marco Polo guide covers the original.

Nil Rouge (shop Nil Rouge) is the house's "Red Nile," which it presents as a continuation of its Thé sur le Nil (shop Thé sur le Nil). The house describes scents of citrus and Oriental spices with marigold petals in the blend, a taste it calls lively yet mild. Of the three, it is the natural one to try with a slice of lemon.

Two herbal tins

Mentha Piperita (shop Mentha Piperita) is peppermint and nothing else. Mentha piperita is the botanical name for peppermint, and the house describes a cool, peppery, mellow cup. It comes as 30 cotton muslin sachets. The house places it under its Jardin Premier label and ties that label to two EU regulations, No 396/2005, which sets maximum pesticide residue levels in food, and 2018/848, the EU's organic production regulation.

Dream Tea (shop Dream Tea) is the only blend in the group that mixes rooibos with herbs. The house names eight plants, among them chamomile, verbena, lemon balm, lemongrass, licorice and red rooibos. It also comes as 30 muslin sachets.

Five tins, side by side

Tin	Base	What the house adds	Format and net weight	Per cup	Cups per tin
Rouge Bourbon	Rooibos	Bourbon vanilla	Loose, 100 g canister	2.5 g per 200 ml	About 40
Marco Polo Rouge	Rooibos	Fruits and flowers of China and Tibet	Loose, 100 g canister	2.5 g per 200 ml	About 40
Nil Rouge	Rooibos	Citrus, spice, marigold petals	Loose, 100 g canister	2.5 g per 200 ml	About 40
Mentha Piperita	Peppermint leaves	Nothing	30 muslin sachets, 45 g	1.5 g sachet	30
Dream Tea	Eight plants including rooibos	Chamomile, verbena, licorice and others	30 muslin sachets, 60 g	2 g sachet	30

All five are infusions of rooibos, peppermint or a blend of herbs. Rouge Bourbon, Marco Polo Rouge, Nil Rouge and Dream Tea each brew a naturally caffeine-free cup, by the house's description. The loose rooibos canisters make about 40 cups each and let the dose be adjusted, while the sachet boxes hold 30 pre-measured cups.

Brewing rooibos in Denver

For the three rooibos canisters, the house's brewing guidance is 2.5 g per 200 ml of water at 95°C, or 203°F, for five minutes. The USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service puts the boiling point of water at about 202°F at 5,000 feet, and uses Denver as its example. In Cherry Creek, then, the target sits just above what a kettle can reach. Pour the moment the kettle boils, not after it has rested. The council calls rooibos never bitter, which makes a slightly lower temperature a gentle variable to play with. The cooking at altitude guide covers the rest of the kitchen.

Which tin for which cup

For an evening cup with milk, start with Rouge Bourbon. Marco Polo Rouge carries the Marco Polo scent without the caffeine, and Nil Rouge suits lemon and a lighter cup. Mentha Piperita is the tin for a cool cup after dinner, Dream Tea the one for a late evening. Rooibos and honey are a natural pairing, and the honey guide suggests which jar. Loose rooibos keeps like loose tea, sealed and away from light and smells, as the loose-leaf tea storage guide explains. For hosting, the Mariage Frères hosting pantry guide sets these beside the house's black and green teas.