Kombu Kelp Tea vs Ume Plum Tea vs Shiitake Mushroom Tea

by Tomo · Published February 8, 2017 · Updated April 1, 2023

It is said drinking green tea every day is good for health, for the beverage contains plenty of healthy components such as catechin and theanine.

In fact, many benefits can be expected from the intake of green tea, including the following.

But don’t you want to stay healthy by drinking more tasty tea, like soup?

For those who answer yes to this question, today I will introduce three unique Japanese teas;

kombu seaweed tea or Japanese kombucha or kelp tea, ume plum tea, and shiitake mushroom tea. They all taste good, as though they are soups.

Kombu Tea vs. Ume Tea vs. Shiitake Tea

Although I’m a Japanese man born and raised in Japan, I don’t consume green tea much and prefer drinking coffee.

Instead, I sometimes crave these three soup-like teas, and among them, I like kombucha seaweed tea the most.

Then, what kinds of beverages are kombu tea, ume tea, and shiitake tea? Today, let me talk about that.

“Kombucha (昆布茶)” or kombu tea (kelp tea) is a salted umami-rich tea, as you can guess.

Since the base powder is made by pulverizing the seaweed kombu that is used in making dashi stock, this tea is full of umami.

In Japan, kombucha seaweed tea is most commonly consumed among these three soup-like teas.

It tastes good, but its salt content is high, so you shouldn’t drink it too much in a day.

Kombu tea is a rich source of minerals and components, such as potassium, soluble dietary fiber (alginic acid, fucoidan), and iodine.

The kelp seaweed tea is caffeine-free, and its expected benefits include

Ume Tea or Ume Kombucha

Ume tea, also known as “ume kombucha (梅こんぶ茶)“, is a salted umami-rich tea featuring a refreshing taste of ume plums.

The base powder is a mix of powdered kombu and umeboshi particles.

It is also tasty, but you shouldn’t drink it too much, for the same reason as the kombu seaweed tea.

The benefits of ume plum tea are basically the same as the kelp seaweed tea.

But it contains components of umeboshi, such as citric acid, which helps relieve fatigue.

Shiitake Tea from Gyokuroen

Shiitake tea is a flavorful tea made with shiitake mushroom extract and powder and salted.

It contains lots of glutamic acids and is packed with umami. It is also free from caffeine.

Shiitake is a rich source of minerals, so is shiitake tea.

The Japanese mushroom tea contains components such as eritadenine and lentinan, and its expected benefits are