Saemidori

Saemidori (さえみどり, "Bright Green") is a Japanese cultivar developed at the Kagoshima Prefectural Tea Experiment Station in 1990, registered nationally shortly after. The cultivar is a cross of Yabukita (the dominant Japanese tea cultivar) with Asatsuyu (a high-umami specialty cultivar), inheriting Yabukita's growing reliability and Asatsuyu's premium cup character. The result is a cultivar producing intensely sweet, deep-umami sencha with brilliant green liquor color.

Saemidori plantings are concentrated in Kagoshima Prefecture where the cultivar was developed; substantial plantings also exist in Shizuoka and other Japanese regions. The cultivar produces meaningfully more concentrated cup character than Yabukita — drinkers comparing single-cultivar Saemidori with Yabukita typically find Saemidori sweeter, more umami-forward, and more distinctive. The trade-off is slightly lower yield than Yabukita and more demanding cultivation. Premium Japanese tea brands often offer Saemidori as a single-cultivar release distinct from the default Yabukita-based catalog.

Teas produced

Flavor signature

Growing regions

• Kagoshima (most common)
• Other Japanese regions