Rooibaard, in short, is just another Southern African landrace which originated in Transkei. Also known as Swazi Red (A blend of Rooibaard and Swazi) or Redbeard, it’s named as such for its smattering of distinctive red hairs all over the buds, where most other strains have far fewer hairs, in much less distinct covers.
It’s a high-THC, sativa landrace strain known for incredibly resinous buds, and a taste stereotypical of South African weed – earthy, coffee ground and dirt flavours, not dissimilar to that of a quality tobacco cigar.
This, however, does not do nearly enough justice to the history that this strain holds. Thanks to a lack of interest like that which Durban Poison attracted, this strain has effectively been lost. It’s been a popular strain to find around South Africa in the past, which almost anyone who smoked South African weed in the 70s-90s would have heard of. Unfortunately, it has now been lost thanks to a lack of knowledge around preserving genetics, and the all-too-common myths and stories that we find littered around weed culture worldwide.