By Fiona Sephton
People often ask us whether we really drink our own teas, or whether they sit prettily
on a shelf waiting for a photoshoot. The honest answer is that they are part of the
rhythm of our days, each one finding its own moment, its own person, its own mood.
Emma and I came to these teas from different directions. She is in her twenties,
mornings-first, bright-and-sharp. I am squarely in the late-afternoon-wind-down
camp. Between us, we have put every blend through its paces in ways a tasting note
never quite captures.
The Chai: My End-of-Day Ritual
By late afternoon, I am done negotiating with spreadsheets and governance
documents. What I want is something warm and grounding with a bit of character,
and that is precisely where the Chai comes in.
I drink it black. No milk, no sugar. The spice notes in the blend do the work all on
their own, and I find that without milk you catch more of the Artemisia afra, that
almost herbal edge that sits behind the warmth of the rooibos. Our rooibos is sourced
from a specific farm and certified organic, and it shows. The colour is a deep amber-
red when brewed properly, and the body is full enough to hold up to the spice.
I steep for longer than most people would think to. Six minutes at a minimum, often
more. If the bag stays in the cup a little longer, or gets a second steep later in the
evening, I am not going to apologise for that. The blend is robust enough to take it.
There are evenings when a chai becomes something else entirely. A good citrus gin,
a strong brew of the Chai cooled slightly, poured together over ice. The spice plays
beautifully against the citrus of the gin in a way that feels like a proper sundowner
rather than an afterthought. It took one experiment to make it a habit.
Emma’s Lemon: The Morning Ritual
Emma reaches for the Lemon first thing. She describes it as the flavour of waking up
properly, and I think that is about right. There is something about lemon and
Artemisia afra together that feels clean and bright, a freshness that sits differently
from coffee or green tea. It helps her feel like herself before the day has made any
demands.
She brews it as a straightforward herbal tea, nothing added, and takes it slowly
before the morning gets going. On the days she drinks it, she says she feels clearer
and more ready for what is ahead. I believe her. There is something about a
considered morning ritual that sets a tone the rest of the day tends to follow.
Emma also notices this particularly during the change of seasons, when the air shifts
and people around her start to flag. A morning cup of the Lemon feels, she says, like
a small act of looking after herself before the day has had a chance to ask anything
of her. The brightness of the lemon, the depth of the rooibos, the quiet presence of
the Artemisia afra: it is not a dramatic intervention. It is just a good habit, built one
morning at a time.
On a hot day, and we have plenty of those in the Eastern Cape, Emma turns the
Lemon into something her friends look forward to. She brews a generous pot, lets it
cool, pours it over ice in a jug, and adds a few extra slices of fresh lemon. That is
genuinely all it takes. It is the kind of iced tea you make for a group and watch
disappear faster than you expected.
The Cup We Reach For When Things Feel Off
There is another moment when we both reach for the tea, and it is less photogenic
but perhaps more honest. When someone in the office has been coughing all week,
or when Emma comes home and something is clearly going around. When there is a
mild headache that has not quite decided whether it is serious, or a general flat
tiredness that sits at the edges of the day. We brew a cup then, sometimes a strong
one.
Artemisia afra has been part of South African homes for a very long time. Long
before it was being written about in research papers, it was the plant people reached
for when the season turned and bodies started struggling. Traditionally valued for its
warming and protective qualities, it has a reputation in southern African herbal use
that goes back generations, and those reputations tend to survive because they are
earned.
The research that has followed is interesting. The plant has been studied for its
antibacterial properties, for its role in supporting the body’s response to inflammation,
and for the way it sits comfortably in the gut without irritating it. We are not scientists
and we are not making promises. What we can say is that when one of us feels
something developing, the tea is the first thing we think of, and that it tends to feel
like the right call.
Fiona brews it stronger at those times, longer steep, maybe a second, third, or fourth
cup across the day. Emma adds extra lemon and a little honey, and drinks it warm
rather than iced. Neither of us reaches for anything else first. Whether it is the ritual,
the warmth, the plant, or all three working together, we find we come through those
wobbly patches feeling like we looked after ourselves, and that counts for something.
The rooibos in the blend earns its place here too. Naturally caffeine-free, gentle on
the digestive system, rich in antioxidants, it is a base that the body tends to receive
well even when it is not at its best. The two plants together, Artemisia afra and farm-
specific certified organic rooibos, feel like they were always meant to be in the same
cup.
The Original: Yours to Make Your Own
The Original blend is the one we hand to people who want to do the thinking
themselves. It is Artemisia afra and rooibos without anything added, a canvas rather
than a finished picture. With the rooibos as strong and deep-coloured as ours is, it
holds milk beautifully, which makes it the most versatile of the three. A splash of
honey, a cardamom pod, a slice of ginger, oat milk instead of dairy. It will take
whatever you bring to it.
Some people blend the Original with other herbals they already love. Others treat it
as a daily base and leave it exactly as it is. That is rather the point.
Grown Here, Drunk Here
There is something quietly satisfying about drinking a tea you know the address of.
The Artemisia afra grows on our farm near the Lesotho border, in the Eastern Cape
highlands, in the same kind of rocky, high-altitude terrain it has always preferred. The
rooibos is certified organic, sourced from a farm with its own deep roots in South
African soil.
We did not set out to build a tea range. We set out to do something meaningful with a
plant we believed in. The fact that it fits so naturally into the ordinary moments of a
day, a morning cup, an afternoon wind-down, a jug on a summer table, the quiet
insurance of a cup when the season turns, is the part that still surprises us most.
Stone Bridge Herbal teas are available in Original, Lemon, and Chai. Steep for at least six minutes for best results.
