Benifuuki (べにふうき) loosely translates as “red riches and honors”.
This cultivar that was originally meant for black tea and oolong, but is now also being processed as green tea.
Benifuuki can be cultivated in every region of Japan, and is resistant to various diseases.
Interestingly, the harvesting time differs depending on the type of tea to be produced. For example, it’s harvested one or two days later than the Yabukita cultivar for black tea, but for green tea the harvesting time is a week later than Yabukita.
History of Benifuuki
Benifuuki was the result of crossbreeding Benihomare with MakuraCd86 in Makurazaki city, Kagoshima prefecture, 1965. The right seedling was selected many years later, and it was registered in 1993.
The MakuraCd86 (枕Cd86) tea plant is quite special. It comes from the Darjeeling region, which produces some of the best teas in India.
Benihomare is of the assamica variety (mostly found in India and Sri Lanka), while MakuraCd86 is of the sinensis variety (popular in China and Japan). Benifuuki is a hybrid tea plant in many aspects!
More about Benifuuki
This cultivar yields 30% more than Yabukita at harvest.
As a green tea, it has a strong taste and high astringency. However, in this form it has the greatest concentration of methylated catechins of all the Japanese cultivars.
Benifuuki makes a high quality black tea, with a mellow taste and excellent aroma.
As all wakoucha (Japanese black tea), it’s best drank without milk or sugar.
February 25, 2014
Hello, Ricardo.
Drinking beni fuuki tea before or during the cedar pollen season in Japan (from beginning of Feb) that resulted in fewer or less extreme hay fever allergy symptoms in Japan. it’s getting popular the tea because of the reason in Japan.
Actually it really works for me and my dad, we have
so bad suffer from hay fever in the season every year! I like the taste as well as it lil differnt regular green tea. ofcourse its better than taking pills..
I always enjoy reading your article!
February 25, 2014
Hello Kayoko
Thanks for the comment.
You’re right about Benifuuki and its effect on allergy symptoms. I plan to write an article about it in the future.
February 26, 2014
Sorry Ricardo, I just couldn’t resist adding this comment. I have been talking about the benefits of this tea for some time now. The active ingredient in Benifuki is methylated catechin which is know to reduce inflammation. I have been marketing a product call “stay clear” which is a powdered benifuki” from Kagoshima for about 5 years that I have repeat customers each spring who are farmers in Oregan. It works to clear allergy symptoms in 30 seconds. http://www.thetasteoftea.com/stay-clear/
Take a look. it really works.
February 26, 2014
Hi Nez
Thanks for the comment. Your tea looks very interesting, I’ve never tried a powdered Benifuuki green tea before.
I’ll review it as soon as I’m done with other pending reviews : )
February 26, 2014
Actually the Beni fuuki tea I always drink in Japan which is already powdered. I’ve never seen sold as leaf product. I’d like to try if I can find it!
February 26, 2014
Hello Kayoko
The Benifuuki in loose leaf is mostly black tea, that’s the one that I have tried.
April 25, 2014
I’m in Tokyo and am going to get more Benifuuki during sincha season.
One thing to note, they found very low or no levels of methylated catechins in black benifuuki tea (as opposed to green)
http://www.naro.affrc.go.jp/english/vegetea/benifuuki/index.html
Look at the 3-4 paragraph with leaf levels.
Interesting that for the best effect leaves 3-4 down from the top are picked and during the 2nd harvest or in autumn.
April 25, 2014
Hello John
Thank you for the comment and the extra info.
I actually talked about that in another post: https://www.myjapanesegreentea.com/methylated-catechins-a-way-to-relieve-allergy-symptoms
June 1, 2015
Hi. Can you give some recommendations where to find or order this tea from? Thanks
June 1, 2015
Hi MR
It’s not easy to find this tea outside Japan, but I did review this green benifuuki tea in powder form for allergy prevention, by a US vendor:
https://www.myjapanesegreentea.com/the-taste-of-tea-stay-clear
June 24, 2015
Hello I started to sell this tea on Ebay .. I ship directly from Japan
The shop is Japanese Green Teas on Ebay. My brand is called Ocha and Co. I thought it was an interesting tea so I added it to my range. It is not on my websited but available only on Ebay. Here is the link
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Premium-Japanese-Benifuuki-Tea-Catechin-Powder-30g-Hay-Fever-Allergy-Relief-/251817691994
July 6, 2017
Bitdefender identifies the website above (http://www.ebay.com/itm/Premium-Japanese-Benifuuki-Tea-Catechin-Powder-30g-Hay-Fever-Allergy-Relief-/251817691994) as a “phishing site.” It would be helpful if the poster could provide some clarification and assure readers of there safety using his eBay site and store.
July 7, 2017
Hi Brad
I don’t know what Bitdefender is, I visited through Firefox and I get no warning.
ebay is a huge company, that would be like saying that Amazon is a phishing site.
August 28, 2019
Hello Ricardo, long time!
Do you know which is the ♀ mother (and grand mother) and which is the ♂ father (and grand father) of Benifuuki? You have mentioned Benihomare and MakuraCd86 but which is the female and which is the male?
August 28, 2019
Hello Lochan
The mother is Benihomare and the father is MakuraCd86.
June 22, 2020
Hey Richardo!
Just wanted to say that I really enjoy your blog. As I work in a tea shop now, I have found your blog as a very useful and good resource for learning about Japanese tea, particularly the section regarding the various
cultivars. Keep doing an amazing work 🙂
Have a nice day!
June 22, 2020
Hi Mimi
Thank you for reading. I hope that you learn a lot about tea and have fun in the process.
March 3, 2021
Cannot find instructions on how to prepare this tea. Can you advise?
I really enjoy these articles. Thank you so much!
March 3, 2021
Hi Marilyn
It depends if it is a Benifuuki green tea, black tea, a powdered tea, etc.
So the specific cultivar doesn’t change the preparation of a given type of tea, unless you have a reason to do so.