Saemidori Matcha: Cultivar, Tencha and Origin

Samidori, Saemidori: on two matcha packages, the names look similar enough to cause confusion. Saemidori is a distinct cultivar, however, bred from Yabukita and Asatsuyu. First registered for sencha, a green tea that is steeped, it has also been studied for tencha, the leaf milled into matcha.

The name tells you neither where your tea grew nor how it will taste. We look separately at the tea-plant cultivar, where it was grown and the tea that was made from it.

Where does the Saemidori cultivar come from?

Yabukita and Asatsuyu were crossed in the Makurazaki breeding program in Kagoshima. The cultivar description calls Saemidori suitable for warm or temperate regions. That is where the plant was bred, not the origin of every matcha made from it.

The Japanese NARO institute's handbook traces that parentage and presents Saemidori as a green tea variety. It describes the plant; it doesn't give a tasting note for a package of matcha.

We'd ask where the leaves grew, including for a blend. A cultivar bred in Kagoshima can be named on a tea whose leaf origin still needs to be established.

Can Saemidori be used to make matcha?

Yes. Saemidori has been studied under shade for tencha production. A study conducted in Kyoto compared its tencha cultivation with Asahi's. Its findings concern that trial, not every Saemidori matcha.

We'd look for the word tencha or a description of the process on the product in your hand. One cultivar can make several teas depending on cultivation and processing. However interesting the variety, it isn't enough to name the finished tea.

“Kagoshima Saemidori” or “Yame Saemidori”: where is the tea from?

These phrases combine a stated place and a variety. Saemidori was bred in Makurazaki, Kagoshima Prefecture; that doesn't prove a “Kagoshima Saemidori” was grown in Makurazaki.

For a “Yame Saemidori,” we'd look on the product page for the leaf origin and cultivar name, each clearly stated. One doesn't follow from the other. A combined name without detail leaves too much room for guesswork.

Saemidori, Samidori, Okumidori: how do you keep them straight?

The Samidori selection comes from Uji, without Saemidori's Yabukita and Asatsuyu parentage. Okumidori is a third variety: a shared syllable doesn't make the names synonymous.

Check the full name, then taste identified teas prepared the same way with water. We'd avoid attributing to the cultivar a difference that region or processing might explain. The name helps you ask questions; the cup helps you choose.