The New Year has started! The first tea I'll show you in 2025 is tea with kuromame as this is deeply related to a New Year's celebrations in Japan.
What is Kuromame？
Kuromame(黒豆) ,also called kurodaizu(黒大豆), is a black soybean, a type of soybeans with black skin.
Soybeans have been a quintessential ingredient in foods such as for tofu, miso and shoyu(soy sauce) in Japanese cuisine for over a thousand year, and it is also important in a New Year's dishe called osechi ryori (おせち料理). Kuromame or kuromame-ni, simmered black soybeans in English, are traditionally eaten in the New Year.
Osechi ryori (おせち料理）, New Year's dish
You can see black beans in the yellow cup in the right and front of the photo above.
Soybeans are included as a lucky charm wishing people good health and long lives. The reason for black soybeans chosen in the soybean varieties is that black color is said to keep away bad luck.
What is Kuromame-cha? How about it's flavor and nutrition?
You might wonder what Kuromame-cha is, then. Cha(茶) means tea in Japanese. Although it is called "tea", there are no tea leaves in it. Kuromame-cha is a drink steeped with black soybeans. The beans are dried and roasted, similar to coffee beans.
Kuromame-cha has a savory aroma and a nutty and sweet flavor. It's caffeine-free, good for a bed time drink, and suitable for pregnant woman and children. It is also rich in antioxidants, minerals such as potassium and calcium, and vitamins.
Personally, the flavor from the roasting process reminds me of Munich, roasted barley tea. Some people enjoy barley tea as a coffee alternative, so it could be good try Kuromame-cha for the same reason. It is also nice to add some milk like a latte.
Types of Kuromame-cha
You can either have whole soybeans or tea bags with ground soybeans.
The good thing about whole beans is that you can eat them after making tea. It's nice to eat them as they are, but you can put them into salad, yogurt and cakes, so zero waste.
#0827.H2 Morita Beans: #2 Kuromame Black Soybean Tea Bags (3g)
Having tea bags is always handy and makes it easy to make tea. Even on a busy morning or a lazy day, you can enjoy it easily with your mug.
Another option to make the tea easy.
There is another option here. If you'd like to make your tea quickly and easily with whole beans, you can use a fillable tea bag.
A fillable tea bag on the left
Make several tea bags with them and keep them in your canister. It's handy. You can use these bags for your loose tea as well.
Fillable Tea Bags, no string, 95 x 70 mm, 100 pcs
Biodegradable Cotton (Bemliese™) Fillable Tea Bags by Subaru
Articles and Recipe
About New Year's dish How to Make Nejiri-Ume (Japanese Vegetable Carving)
What is barley tea? Mugicha, the Flavor of Summer in Japan
How to make tofu from scratch Make Tofu from Soy Milk at Home
Today's Recommendations
#0826.H2 Morita Beans: #1 Kuromame Black Soybean Tea (100g)
#0827.H2 Morita Beans: #2 Kuromame Black Soybean Tea Bags (3g)
