Carmién Tea – Rooibos & blends from Citrusdal (Cederberg)
Carmién in numbers
- Company: Carmién Tea (Pty) Ltd, founded 1999
- Location: Western Cape (South Africa) – Citrusdal / Cederberg · Processing: Bergendal Rooibos
- 🗺️ Location on the map: Google Maps · Apple Maps · OpenStreetMap
- Main products: Rooibos (classic & green rooibos) · Rooibos blends & specialties (e.g., cold brew, espresso variants)
- Highlight 1: Consistent taste through controlled blending of different batches (visible in your photo series)
- Highlight 2: Pasteurisation and lab samples as fixed steps – for hygienic stability and consistently high quality
- People: Mientjie Mouton (Founder & Managing Director) · Lieschke van Zyl (Key Account Manager) · On-site team in Citrusdal
More details (quick explanation)
What you understand particularly well at Carmién:
Rooibos is a natural product – and yet one variety can taste very similar throughout the year. The key is the process: sorting, blending, direct transfer into pasteurisation, subsequent separation (incl. rooibos dust/fines), and verification via lab samples.
Processing on site:
Your images show steps customers rarely get to see: from the vibrating sieve (coarse/fine), to the blending system with a conveyor belt into pasteurisation, all the way to filling and packaging.
Range & audiences:
Carmién takes rooibos a long way – with product worlds for different needs (classic, wellness, family/kids, cold brew/iced) and a wide selection of blends and formats.
LMC line:
LMC (Lize Mouton Collection) is a dedicated, curated line within the Carmién world – focused on special blends, enjoyment, and gifting.
Carmién products in our shop
Our range grows step by step: If you’re missing a specific variety or line from Carmién, feel free to message us — and we’ll see what we can make possible.
Carmién online:
Carmién in 9 images
This is where rooibos becomes Carmién
This building is more than a warehouse: this is where all the steps come together that turn raw rooibos into a safe, reliable food product. Anyone who has been on site quickly notices: this isn’t anonymous industry — it’s production you can proudly show.
Coarse and fine: why particle size matters
In the shaker sieve, rooibos is separated by particle size. That influences how evenly the tea sits in the bag, how it steeps — and how the cup tastes in the end. Seeing coarse and fine rooibos side by side makes this step instantly understandable.
Blending: so your tea always tastes the same
Rooibos is a natural product — batches can differ. That’s why different rooibos lots are combined in the blending system (left) so Carmién’s aroma remains reliably recognizable. Immediately afterwards, the conveyor belt (right) transfers the freshly blended batch straight into pasteurisation — to stabilise it hygienically and keep quality tightly controlled from blending to the next step.
Gently stabilised: hygiene without losing aroma
Pasteurisation makes rooibos hygienically stable — an important step for food safety and consistent quality. You can also see that fine particles are produced during processing and handled in a controlled way. For you, that means: clean tea you can trust.
The finest fraction: rooibos dust
After pasteurisation, rooibos is separated again: the vibro separator removes the finest fraction — so-called rooibos dust — which is collected separately. For customers, this is a good sign: nothing happens by chance; each fraction is handled deliberately and used accordingly.
From loose tea to the finished pack
Here the rooibos is portioned and packaged — precisely and under controlled conditions. On the right you can see Carmién cartons, ready for shipping and retail. This is the moment production becomes a product that arrives at your home.
Quality you can measure and see
In the lab, quality isn’t just “felt” — it’s tested: samples show colour, cut, and consistency across different batches. These checks ensure Carmién tea not only tastes good, but is also reliable. For many, this is the invisible part of quality — here it becomes visible.
Mientjie Mouton – founder of Carmién Tea
Behind Carmién is Mientjie Mouton — founder and Managing Director. This photo shows what she has built: a range that makes rooibos accessible for many tastes without losing sight of origin and quality. Production and enjoyment naturally belong together here.
The people behind Carmién: Lieschke van Zyl & team
During my visit, I was able to go behind the scenes — and meet the people who make everyday work at Carmién possible. Left in the photo: Lieschke van Zyl, Key Account Manager at Carmién Tea. Encounters like this make farm-direct relationships tangible, because you see how things are done — and that behind every pack there are real people.
Citrusdal & Cederberg: why Carmién made me realise how big rooibos can really be
The first impulse came from a South African acquaintance who has lived in the Netherlands for over 20 years. He used to be responsible for Carmién’s key-account sales in Europe. And then — completely unexpectedly for me — he reinvented himself again three years ago: today he leads key-account sales (especially in Germany) for Piekenierskloof Wines. That’s exactly why he told me back then: “If you really want to understand rooibos, go there.”
So on March 8, 2022, I stood in the Carmién Tea Shop on the N7 shortly before the Piekenierskloof Pass — and honestly, I was overwhelmed. Not because “there were many varieties” on the shelf, but because the range is so clearly designed for different people and situations. Besides classic rooibos, there are dedicated lines like Women’s Teas, Wellness Teas or Kiddies Teas, plus infusions, green rooibos — and even things you would hardly associate with rooibos in Europe: Rooibos Espresso or Instant Rooibos. And then there’s the “cold” world: cold brew, sparkling iced teas, cordials — all the way to rooibos distilled gin.
That’s when I realised what Carmién does differently: rooibos here isn’t just a hot drink, but a product consciously developed for different target groups — from everyday tea to “something special”. A great example is the LMC line — the Lize Mouton Collection. Behind LMC is Lize du Preez (née Mouton), the daughter of Mientjie Mouton. It’s a premium line, designed in 2018, with a strong focus on special blends, enjoyment and gifting — you can see a different signature without losing the rooibos roots.
Because the Bergendal facility isn’t far away, I drove on spontaneously that day. And yes — I ended up in the office without an appointment. Seven faces looked at me, understandably. I briefly explained that I was building a rooibos shop in Germany and wanted to introduce myself. One team member kindly asked me to use the official entrance — and that’s where we really started talking. Meanwhile, there was a woman in the room who initially just listened. When I mentioned my acquaintance’s name, she became attentive — and only afterwards did I realise: that’s Mientjie Mouton, founder and Managing Director of Carmién Tea. That’s how the photo came about where she holds a cup in one hand and the teapot in the other.
I got a tour in 2022, but I wasn’t allowed to take my own photos. Later, I was sent images — but they were exactly the kind of “marketing photos” you could (exaggerating a bit) also see on many other sites. Before my next visit on December 4, 2025, I therefore contacted Lieschke van Zyl (Key Account Manager) in advance and explained why I needed real, original photos — not for advertising, but to show people how rooibos is actually made.
When I returned on December 4, 2025, the surprise came: I was suddenly allowed to photograph as much as I wanted. Lieschke and a colleague from the team guided me through processing — and that’s where the photos on this page come from: sorting (coarse/fine), blending different batches for a consistent taste, the conveyor belt directly into pasteurisation, the subsequent separation (where rooibos dust is also removed), and finally the quality control in the lab. For me, that was the moment when “rooibos” no longer felt like anonymous tea bags, but like a well-managed process with many hands behind it.
And because in Citrusdal rooibos, citrus and wine-growing naturally belong together, the circle closes for me too: through the connection via my acquaintance and the region, I plan to add selected wines from Piekenierskloof Wines to the shop in the future — as a complement, not a distraction. Rooibos remains the centre. But anyone who has been there understands: this region can do more than just “tea”.