# What exactly is red tea?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exactly-is-red-tea/453803>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [June 22, 2008, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exactly-is-red-tea/453803 "2008-06-22T17:13:25Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\
**Post date:** [June 22, 2008, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exactly-is-red-tea/453803/1 "2008-06-22T17:13:25Z")

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And how is it different than black tea?

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**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\
**Post date:** [June 22, 2008, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exactly-is-red-tea/453803/2 "2008-06-22T17:15:54Z")

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Black tea is a stimulating beverage.

Red Tea is a place Stymie visited in the Middle East.

Sorry. I REALLY couldn’t resist. 😃

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**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\
**Post date:** [June 22, 2008, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exactly-is-red-tea/453803/3 "2008-06-22T17:20:19Z")

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[Rooibos, or ‘red tea’](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rooibos).

> [@](#):
>
> The flavor of rooibos tea is often described as being sweet (without sugar added) and slightly nutty. Preparation of rooibos tea is essentially the same as black tea save that the flavour is improved by longer brewing. The resulting brew is a reddish brown color, explaining why rooibos is sometimes referred to as “red tea”.

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**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\
**Post date:** [June 22, 2008, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exactly-is-red-tea/453803/4 "2008-06-22T17:27:07Z")

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[QUOTE=Johnny L.A.]  
Red Tea is a place Stymie visited in the Middle East.

Sorry. I REALLY couldn’t resist. 😃  
[/QUOTE]

Blew the joke. That should have been **Buckwheat**. :smack:

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**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\
**Post date:** [June 22, 2008, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exactly-is-red-tea/453803/5 "2008-06-22T17:31:40Z")

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It’s a different plant. It’s an “herbal” tea, not an actual tea leaf. Also, it has no caffeine.