Health Benefits of Suntory Kuro (Black) Oolong Tea

Oolong is a semi-oxidized tea that originated in China, and in Japan, it is as popular as Japanese green teas, such as Sen-cha and Hoji-cha.

In fact, each convenience store chain in Japan is definitely selling oolong tea PET bottles alongside other green tea PET bottles.

As for the history of oolong tea in Japan, in 1981, the Japanese beverage company, Ito-en invented canned oolong tea for the first time in the world, and in December of that year, Suntory began to sell their oolong tea cans.

Today, a number of Japanese companies are manufacturing their own oolong tea PET bottles, but among those, Suntory’s oolong tea is especially popular and comes in 2 types, that is, regular, and Kuro oolong tea.

Suntory Kuro Oolong Tea 

Introduced in 2006, Suntory “Kuro (黒: black)” oolong tea is actually a government-approved food for specified health uses known as “Tokuho (トクホ)”.

Unlike ordinary oolong tea, it contains plenty of Oolong Tea Polymerized Polyphenols (OTPP) including a type of oolong tea polyphenol called oolong homobisflavan B.

Health Benefits 

The OTPP has an action that inhibits the absorption of fat in food and suppresses the increase of neutral fat in blood after a meal, in addition to excreting fat from the body as twice as usual.

Dosage and How to Drink

To have the benefits, you need to drink one PET bottle (350 ml) during a meal, at most twice a day.

Ingredients and Nutrition Facts

Made from oolong tea leaves produced in China’s Fujian Province, the Suntory Kuro Oolong Tea contains about 10 mg of caffeine, about 20 mg of potassium, less than 10 mg of phosphorus per 100 ml, and 70 mg of OTPP, 0.07 g of salt equivalents per 350 ml.

Taste 

As you can see in the picture above, the Kuro oolong tea has a darker color than the regular oolong tea, and that is why it is called black oolong.

Taste-wise, there is no big difference between the two, and both are smooth and taste fine. But if I had to say, I feel the black oolong tea has a somewhat stronger taste.

(Reference Page: Wikipedia サントリー黒烏龍茶 )