Dr Hannes de Lange: A reflection on the pioneering days
"I was introduced to honeybush tea in the early 1960s as field official of the South African Cooperative Citrus Scholarship, when I was placed in Patensie, a small town in the Gamtoos Valley. During my visits to George Malan, chairman of the local citrus cooperation, his wife, Kintie, always had a kettle of honeybush tea brewing on their coal stove. From here onwards, I became a life-long drinker of this tea," De Lange remembers. The tea was previously known as 'three-day tea', as the spent leaves could repeatedly be used by adding water after decanting the tea. The infusion was kept warm on the side of an AGA stove, for example, as off odours and flavours formed when leaves were left in the kettle for a few days at room temperature. "In these early days, there was no commercial cultivation of honeybush. People living in different fynbos areas, harvested the plant from wild populations for their own use. Sometimes, the tea was sold at farm stalls. In 1965, the Malan family showed me C. intermedia growing in the nearby Hanekam Mountain. I made my own small home-made batch by sweating finely cut, wetted plant material in a black plastic bag – and to this day, that was the best tea I have ever tasted." Following his postgraduate studies at the University of Pretoria, De Lange worked as a citrus researcher in Nelspruit. During this time, he purchased honeybush tea from time to time from a general dealer, but always wondered why the rooibos tea industry was going from strength to strength, but no honeybush tea industry existed. In 1986, he accepted a position at the South African National Botanical Institute (SANBI) at the Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden, Cape Town, to establish a tissue culture unit for the multiplication of endangered fynbos plants. "After completion of the assignment early 1992, I knew that the time has arrived for my yearning wish to initiate a honeybush tea industry,' De Lange recalls. And on 19 February 1992, De Lange presented the planned propagation project titled 'Cyclopia species: Initiation of commercial plantings and studying of its conservation' at SANBI, Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden. The project was launched on 23 February 1992. Honeybush pioneer Dr Hannes de Lange in 5th place from left at a honeybush information day, held on 20 October 1993 in Joubertina, Langkloof. Fltr: Bruce McKenzie, Johan Beyers, Trevor Blamire, Wessel du Plessis, Hannes de Lange, Frans du Toit, Scheltema Nortjé. Insert: Sam van der Merwe. Photo supplied by Hannes de Lange. |
| A lasting honeybush legacy * What is in a name?
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From crop to cup * First records of a local cottage industry
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Dr Hannes de Lange: A reflection on the pioneering days
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Commercialisation of Cyclopia genistoides – a story that originated at the foot of Table Mountain
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The advancing role of research in growing the honeybush industry
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Research on honeybush cultivation
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Research on honeyush tea processing
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Local growth and the start of an international footprint
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Looking into the future … Dr Hannes de Lange, Pioneer of the formal honeybush industry, December 2020
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A vision for the honeybush industry: Joyene Isaacs, chairperson Agricultural Research Council Board | Former HOD Western Cape Department of Agriculture, March 2021
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A honeybush timeline: milestones, highlights and interesting snippets
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Sources of information
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Acknowledgements
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Honeybush Homepage ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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