Tea Cultivar · Camellia sinensis var. sinensis
Saemidori
- Origin
- Japan - Kagoshima (NARO Makurazaki)
- Registered
- 1990
- Primary use
- green tea, sencha, matcha, kabusecha
Overview
Saemidori is a prized early-budding cultivar bred by crossing Yabukita with Asatsuyu at the Makurazaki tea research station and registered in 1990. It was developed specifically to combine Yabukita's hardiness and yield with Asatsuyu's exceptional sweetness and vivid green color, and it has succeeded so well that it now commands a premium price at auction in Kagoshima and Kyoto, often used for high-grade shincha and competition-grade kabusecha.
Characteristics
A medium-leafed sinensis with a compact growth habit and notably bright, almost emerald foliage - the name literally means 'clear green.' It buds 5 to 7 days earlier than Yabukita, which gives Kagoshima producers a valuable head start on the shincha market each spring. Cold tolerance is only moderate, so it is mostly confined to southern Kyushu and warmer pockets of Honshu. The leaves are slightly thicker and softer than Yabukita's, which makes them well suited to shading and to fine deep-steaming (fukamushi).
Flavor profile
Saemidori is celebrated for a clean, sweet umami with very little bitterness - silky body, fresh sugar-snap pea and young grass notes, and a luminous bright-green liquor. Under shade it develops a pronounced marine sweetness reminiscent of high-grade gyokuro but with a softer, rounder mouthfeel. It is one of the few Japanese cultivars whose name is regularly printed on retail packaging, because consumers seek it out by name.
Where it grows
Kagoshima · Miyazaki · Kyoto (Uji)