For Lize, founder of the Lize Mouton Collection, rooibos has always felt like home. She grew up on a farm in the Cederberg where rooibos was grown, with mornings often starting with a cup her mom would bring her in bed before school.
It is a memory that many South Africans may recognise in their own way. Rooibos is the tea in the kitchen cupboard, the pot shared around the table, the familiar cup we reach for without giving too much thought to where it comes from.
And yet, there is something quite remarkable about it.
Rooted close to home
Rooibos, or Aspalathus linearis, is native to a small part of South Africa, including the Cederberg. Its story reaches back long before the modern tea industry, with rooibos deeply connected to the Khoi and San communities of the region.
That connection to place is still recognised today. In 2021, Rooibos received Protected Designation of Origin status in the European Union, recognising its geographical roots and the importance of where it comes from.
For something so familiar to us, rooibos is wonderfully unique.
From a young age, Lize was also hearing that story shared beyond South Africa. She remembers listening to her mom speak to international customers about rooibos and what made it so unique to South Africa, and specifically to the Cederberg region where they farmed.
Those early experiences stayed with Lize as she later found her own place in the tea business. When the idea for LMC came about, she wanted to present rooibos in a way that highlighted just how special it is.
Sharing something South African
Through LMC, rooibos is celebrated for its natural beauty, its connection to the Cederberg and its unmistakably South African story. Something familiar enough for an everyday cup, yet special enough to give to someone you love or send home with a visitor as a taste of South Africa.
Perhaps that is what makes rooibos particularly meaningful this Heritage Day. Heritage isn’t always something we have to go looking for. Sometimes it is already part of our everyday lives.
It is in the places we come from, the things our families share and, sometimes, the cup of tea we have been drinking for as long as we can remember.
This Heritage Day, we’re raising ours to rooibos, and celebrating something that is proudly South African.
