Cha Cha Kuromoji-Cha
Kuromoji (Lindera umbellata) is a deciduous shrub of the Lauraceae family, grown naturally across Japan.
Kuromoji-cha (Tea) also known as spicebush tea is made entirely from the leaves and branches of the shrub itself.
The tea has been consumed for a long time in Japan and it is considered a traditional herbal tea.
Flavour – Lightly spicy, sweet, woody and floral
You get a refreshing kick of spice, followed by a smooth and mellow taste. Resembles the taste of ginger.
Kuromoji is rich in its major chemical constituent, linalool – a naturally occurring and aromatic compound, found in many plants such as lavender and cannabis. Ever wondered why lavender has such a calming effect on you? Ever wondered why cannabis has a calming effect on you!? It’s linalool. Consuming or even inhaling the aroma of Kuromoji-cha will hit you with relaxation, thanks to the presence of this compound.
Many studies show that linalool exhibits a variety of properties beneficial to health. It’s analgesic, anxiolytic, sedative, anti-inflammatory, anti-tumor and anti-bacterial.
A hot beverage that tastes wonderfully unique every season; which calms you; has zero calories and is naturally anti-inflammatory? Surely, this should be a win in everyone’s book. However, why is no one is talking about it?
Why is no one talking about Kuromoji Tea?
Everyone in the far east know very well about Kuromoji tea and its soothing benefits, but it’s unheard of in the west. There are a few assumptions why this may be the case:
- Overshadowed by Matcha, the green powder took the west by storm. Matcha croissants, matcha latte, matcha bubble tea and matcha foot cream (kidding about the foot cream, but won’t be surprised if it exists). Don’t get us wrong, we love matcha, but there’s a huge variety of tea from the east that are as equally as good or even better than the forbidden M word (it’s forbidden throughout the rest of this blog post now).
- Insufficiently marketed or advertised.
- Not a lot of media coverage on Kuromoji tea.
Tea Party in Kyoto, Japan
Yes there is a minimal coverage on Kuromoji tea from leading media outlets, but fear not – we are here to share are a lot of studies that are currently available online, all proclaiming crucial and interesting benefits of this tea.
Kuromoji Improves Salivary Secretion and Oral Health
The results of this study concludes the following, “pleasant subjective feeling could be obtained from sniffing the aroma of Kuromoji teas”. Just by sniffing or deeply inhaling in the aroma of the tea will help calm you. The study also adds that Kuromoji’s constituents – linalool, geraniol and a few others have the potential to stimulate salivary secretion, which in turn, will help improve and maintain good oral health.
Inhibits Seasonal Influenza
Another study focused on the effects of Kuromoji in preventing influenza in Japan. This study concludes by stating that Kuromoji “leads to the prevention of seasonal influenza variously mutating every year by making the virus inactive non-specifically and inhibiting the growth of the virus”.
Natural Deodorant
One last study, we promise! This study sheds light on the deodorizing effect of Kuromoji. The experiment is conducted by testing Kuromoji in two different forms; essential oil and hydrosol.
Hydrosols are by-products of the essential oil manufacturing process. Essentially, the Kuromoji hydrosol, is its leaves and branches distilled in water. Therefore, they are much less concentrated and less irritant to the skin than their stronger essential oil counterpart.
Amazingly, the study concludes with both mediums of Kuromoji evidently having odor-eliminating effects.
Conclusion
Finally, Kuromoji tea has a huge scientific backing and poses health benefits.
There is no risk in consumption; it calms you when you drink it; it’s a natural deodorant and the most important of all, it’s likely to help you battle the seasonal flu. Now what’s stopping you from drinking it? We couldn't find this tea anywhere, on Amazon, local shops, so we decided to source the Kuromoji tea ourselves.