Rooibos and Blood Orange sorbet is a delicious and refreshing dessert with this tried and true pair and this recipe pays a tribute to this flavor combo! It has only 5 simple ingredients and it's quite easy to make. 

For this recipe, we used Cape Orange Quince Rooibos, which is a lovely infusion with citrusy and fruity notes that works wonders along with the blood orange. Please feel free to experiment and take a look at our Rooibos varieties to try different versions of this Rooibos and Blood Orange Sorbet.

Don't feel overwhelmed if you don't have an ice cream maker, because there are great techniques to make ice cream and sorbet without having one. Having said that, the texture you'll get from churning the ice cream or sorbet in an ice cream maker is fantastic, so if you're serious about making lots of homemade ice cream, you might want to consider investing in one.

What is Rooibos?

Rooibos is a South African native herb (it's caffeine-free!) that has green, needle-like leaves and tiny yellow flowers. It means "red bush" and it is native to the mountains of Cederberg, South Africa (no other regions worldwide have been able to successfully cultivate it).

It is processed in a similar way to tea that comes from the Camellia Sinensis plant (Black, Green, White, Oolong, Pu-erh and Yellow) by being bruised and fermented. After this process, the leaves turn a reddish color, giving the tea its name. The leaves are also picked and dried without fermenting to make green rooibos tea (grassier in flavor than the traditional version).

Flavor-wise, its infusion is full-bodied, rich, and has a honey-sweet flavor with notes of dried cherries and vanilla. Works great in vanilla, almond, caramel blends as well as fruity ones. It can be enjoyed with milk or on its own.

It is low in tannins and antioxidant-rich, and has several potential health benefits.

Adding Rooibos Flavor

Making sorbets is fairly simple, recipes usually consist of fruit juice and simple syrup, so in order to add the Rooibos flavor to this sorbet, we incorporated it into the simple syrup.

Simple syrups are extremely easy to make and have many different uses like sweetening cocktails, iced teas, adding to sparkling water, etc. They are also used for a variety of baking purposes, like moistening cake layers, making glazes, and sorbets! If you have leftovers, try adding a tbsp to sparkling water and see how amazing it tastes!

Flavored Simple Syrup

The classic simple syrup recipe is 1 part hot water and 1 part of sugar but it can be modified to incorporate additional flavors like spices, teas, flowers, fruits, and even vegetables! Generally, it is best to use a ratio of 1 part water, and 1 part sugar, so consider 4 teabags/2-3 tbsp Cape Orange Quince Rooibos loose leaves for 1 cup water/ 1 cup sugar. We want a concentrated Rooibos flavor in the syrup so it translates well to the sorbet.

For this recipe, we'll consider a bit of evaporation so we'll be using 275 ml water (1-1/4 cup) and 175 gms sugar (about 7/8 of a cup).

To make it, bring water to a boil and add 3 tbsp Rooibos leaves and sugar, mix well, and reduce the heat to low to let simmer for 5-7 minutes. Remove the syrup from the heat and strain the tea leaves. Let cool completely before using.

Simple syrup can be stored in the fridge for two weeks up to a month, depending on the additional ingredients you use. Simple syrups made with dried herbs (but completely strained!) will last longer than a simple syrup made with fresh fruit puree.

Here are other Rooibos blends that could work great with this recipe:

Madagascar Vanilla Rooibos
African Safari Rooibos
Sahara Apple Spice

Ingredients and Tools

The beauty of this recipe is the Rooibos and blood orange combo, which creates a deep, bright red-fuchsia color. It is 100% natural and truly astonishing. If you want to replace the blood orange for regular orange you can do so, but the flavor is going to be totally different, but it would still work.

If you don’t have an ice cream maker, please don't stop yourself from trying this Rooibos and Blood Orange sorbet recipe...
What an ice cream maker does is aerates the mixture and keeps the ice crystals small for smoother finished ice cream. Basically, it improves its texture. But you can surely make ice cream and sorbets without it too.

To make this sorbet without churning, you’ll have to freeze your finished mixture in a large sheet lined with parchment paper. Once it’s completely frozen (at least 4-6 hours), break it into smaller pieces and blend in a food processor (in separate batches, if needed). Spread once more into the lined sheet and freeze again for another 4-6 hours. Process again and serve immediately or freeze in a container with a tight lid. To serve from frozen, remove from the freezer a few minutes before serving to let it soften a bit.

Churning or no churning, the flavor will be the same.

We hope you try this truly refreshing and delicious Rooibos Blood Orange sorbet. If you try it with another of our Rooibos blends, please let us know and leave a comment if you have any questions.