Behind the label "Japanese green tea," there is a family of cultivars with very different characteristics. Knowing a little about them is learning how to choose your cup - and understanding why two senchas can have almost nothing in common.

Yabukita, Saemidori, Okumidori - why Japanese tea cultivars change everything in the cup

When you open a bag of Japanese green tea, you often read sencha, gyokuro, or matcha - three different processing methods. What you almost never read, however, is the name of the cultivar (品種, hinshu) - the variety of the Camellia sinensis plant used to make the leaf. Yet, it is the cultivar, as much as the preparation method, that determines the taste in the cup.

A bit like, in Burgundy, there is the pinot noir before there is a Vosne-Romanée: in Japan, there is the cultivar before there is the sencha.

Yabukita, the discreet pillar

The name that dominates, by far, is Yabukita (やぶきた, also written 藪北). This cultivar was selected at the beginning of the 20th century by a grower from Shizuoka, Hikosaburō Sugiyama, from a plant spotted near a bamboo grove - hence its name (yabu = grove, kita = north). Officially registered in 1953, it has become established for a very practical reason: it is robust, resistant to late frosts, gives good yields, and provides a balanced profile that appeals to a wide audience.

Today, a very large majority of the tea grown in Japan is Yabukita - commonly cited estimates place it around three-quarters of national production. It is a bit of a "default" variety: herbaceous, straightforward, with controlled astringency, and that characteristic green-marine note of well-made Japanese tea.

In other words: if you drink a "Japanese" sencha without any further details, there is a good chance it is Yabukita.

Saemidori, the rising sweetness

The cultivar that has been talked about a lot for the past twenty years is Saemidori (さえみどり, clear green). It is a cross between Yabukita and Asatsuyu registered in the 1990s, selected for a more mellow, rounder aromatic profile, with a lot of umami - that fifth taste that gives Japanese tea its "light broth" side when it is well infused at low temperature.

On the Japanese market, Saemidori is often chosen to make premium senchas and high-quality gyokuros. The cup is greener, softer, almost sweet on the attack, with contained astringency. It is a good "entry" cultivar for a palate accustomed to more vegetal Chinese green teas and which finds the classic sencha a bit too lively.

Okumidori, the rewarded patience

Okumidori (おくみどり, late green) is, as its name indicates, a cultivar with a later harvest. Registered in the 1970s, it is particularly appreciated for matcha - the beaten tea powder of the ceremony and, more broadly, of contemporary Japanese pastry - because it gives a powder of a very intense green and a more robust taste, less wavering than a Saemidori matcha.

A "single-origin" matcha from Okumidori tends to be more earthy, more consistent in the mouth; a Saemidori matcha will be more silky, more floral. Neither better nor worse - two characters.

Asatsuyu, Sayamakaori, Kanayamidori - the extended family

Other names circulate less but are worth knowing:

• Asatsuyu (あさつゆ, morning dew) - a historic cultivar, known for giving a very soft liquid, almost without astringency, and a very pale green. Rare today in its pure state, it is often a parent of other modern cultivars.
• Sayamakaori (さやまかおり) - developed for the Sayama region, further north (Saitama prefecture), where winters are colder. The style is more robust, more roasted - Sayama is also famous for its pronounced hi-ire, the final roasting that gives sencha a hazelnut note.
• Kanayamidori (かなやみどり) - a cultivar that gives a very distinctive woody profile, prized for certain single-origin teas.

Why this changes something in the cup

You can live a long and happy life with a "generic" sencha. But as soon as you start comparing, you understand that saying "I prefer Japanese tea" is as vague as saying "I prefer red wine". Each cultivar has a temperament, and this temperament interacts with:

• the terroir (Shizuoka, Uji, Kagoshima, Sayama - each has its own climate, its mists, its volcanic or non-volcanic soils);
• the cultivation method (full sun for sencha, prolonged shading for gyokuro and matcha, which increases amino acids and decreases astringency);
• the final roasting (hi-ire), which can soften or accentuate the notes of the cultivar.

A sencha from Yabukita in Shizuoka, picked in April and infused at 65°C for one minute, has almost nothing in common with a sencha from Saemidori in Kagoshima picked earlier, infused for a shorter time, just a bit hotter. These are two different liquids.

A practical tip to start

If you want to experience this, look for a serious tea retailer (a specialized address, in France or online) for two or three single-cultivar senchas (tanka-ichi hinshu 単一品種) - for example a Yabukita, a Saemidori, and an Okumidori. Infuse them under the same conditions: 3 g of leaves, 100 ml of water at 70°C, one minute. Drink them in succession in the same small bowl.

It is a somewhat serious experience - but one that makes each cup more interesting afterwards. Not because you become an "expert", but because you stop drinking "Japanese tea" and start drinking a tea, precisely that one, with its character.

It is one of the small joys of the tea path: the more you learn, the more you slow down; and the more you slow down, the more you taste.