Yumi's Yummy Yuja Tea

Yumi's Cells Season 1

Here in Chicago, we’re staring at sub-zero temperatures for the next two days, so it seems like a perfect time to break out the jar of honey citron tea that I bought after seeing it on Yumi’s Cells Season 1 (Viki). Yumi liked this so much that I tracked it down and bought some.

What is yuja tea? 

Yuja tea is an herbal tea made from the rind and juice of the yuja, a citrus fruit that’s a cross between a grapefruit and a mandarin orange. In Japan, it’s called yuzu and is a common ingredient in Japanese cuisine. (Yuzu sake is delicious.) 

Technically I had a jar of yuja marmalade or yuju-cheong, which consists of yuja and sugar. You add water to the marmalade to make the tea. I used 1.5 teaspoons per cup of water.

The backstory

Yumi’s Cells is a clever rom-com that debuted in September 2021 and is one of my favorite K-dramas. It follows a thirty-something woman as she embarks on a new romance, and her inner feelings are represented by cute animated cells.  A second second ran last summer. 

In Ep 5 of Season 1, Yumi is having a glass of cold yuja tea at her new boyfriend's apartment. She exclaims a couple of times how good her drink is. 

It’s so good she wants to know where he got it from and opens up his refrigerator to learn that it’s a homemade jar of yuja marmalade. She wonders who gifted it to him because she doesn’t believe this came from his mom. 

In fact, the marmalade was made by a co-worker who has a crush on the boyfriend. She gave it to him when he had a cold and promised it would make him feel better. 

Jealousy ensues. 

A super fruit? 

Yumi was spot on. This is seriously good stuff. 

Because yuja is harvested in December and January, Asians often say it’s like sunshine in the middle of winter. It’s refreshingly sweet, balanced by a hint of bitterness. 

I’ve tried it four ways, and they were all winners.

1. As a cold drink mixed with sparkling water. I doubled down on the citrus and mixed it in some LaCroix Pamplemousse Sparkling Water. It tasted like a San Pellegrino orange soda. 

2. As a non-caffeinated herbal tea with hot water.

3. As a caffeinated brew by adding it to a cup of black tea.

4. With peanut butter on a cracker. After all, it is marmalade.

Cure a cold? Not sure about that. Yuja is supposedly packed with Vitamin C, but I don’t see 1.5 teaspoons of a half fruit/half sugar jam working wonders on a cold. (Especially since the label says it has 0% Vitamin C.)

Sure, you could double or triple the amount you use, but at 56 calories a serving, it starts to get like soda pop then.  

Nevertheless, I’m comforted by this warm cup of sunshine as I view the Blizzard of 2022 from my window. That’s good enough for me.

Eat the rind at the bottom of the cup–that’s where all the vitamins are supposed to be and tastes like orange candy.

Where to buy

You can get yuja marmalade at any Asian store. I got mine at H-Mart for less than $5, but I’m not sure it’s available for delivery nationwide. You can also get it from Amazon, but the comments indicate that jars often arrive broken.

There’s a lot of different brands. It was like picking out toothpaste at the drugstore. Since it’s mostly fruit and sugar, I’m not sure one brand tastes significantly better than another.  You can also try making it at home, but that’s a topic for another post.

Stay warm and happy holidays!