Cultivars of Japanese Tea
The cultivar is one of the most important and least understood concepts in Japanese tea. It determines how a tea tastes, when it is harvested, and how it is grown. This section covers the cultivars that define modern Japanese tea, starting with the innovation that made them possible.
But even before we get into the cultivars:
Before Yabukita, before Saemidori, before any of the cultivars that shape Japanese tea today, there was zairaishu. This is where the entire cultivar story begins.
Before Yabukita, before Saemidori, before any of the cultivars that shape Japanese tea today, one farmer in Shizuoka asked a question nobody else was asking. This is where the cultivar story begins.
Within Camellia sinensis there are two varieties that matter for understanding tea. The Chinese and the Assam variety.
Before understanding Japanese tea's cultivars, it's useful to understand how the unique system to support the cultivars emerged in Japan.
The cultivars of Japanese tea
Understanding Yabukita means understanding not just one plant, but the entire backbone of modern Japanese green tea, how it got there, what it solved, and what questions it leaves open.
The cultivar that took Asatsuyu's extraordinary umami and made it commercially viable. Today it commands the highest auction prices of any cultivar in Kagoshima.
The natural gyokuro. Without any shading, this cultivar achieves what most teas need weeks of covered cultivation to produce. One of the rarest and most coveted cultivars in Japanese tea.
Asatsuyu's child, Shizuoka's light. This rare cultivar inherited its father's sweetness and added something neither parent had: a refreshing, clean aroma that breaks every expectation.
There is a cultivar that sits at the very top of Japanese tea ceremony culture. Considered to be the finest expression of Japanese ceremonial tea that exists.
About the author:
Yuki is the founder of Tealife, a Singapore-based Japanese tea company. He’s passionate about Japanese tea and spends his time testing, trying, and experimenting - then sharing what he learns through content to help people discover the depth of Japanese tea beyond just matcha.