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Musashikaori: Named for Its Aroma, Specified for Its Umami

Musashikaori: Named for Its Aroma, Specified for Its Umami

Musashikaori is named for its fragrance, yet Saitama's own spec table lists rich umami as its quality trait and NARO warns deep steaming destroys the aroma.

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Shizukaori: The Sencha Shizuoka Recommends and Nobody Plants

Shizukaori: The Sencha Shizuoka Recommends and Nobody Plants

Shizukaori's first flush scored the maximum on Shizuoka's own panel and the prefecture recommends it. A decade on, it is estimated at one hectare.

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Shizu-7132: The Sakura-Scented Tea That Never Got a Name

Shizu-7132: The Sakura-Scented Tea That Never Got a Name

Shizu-7132 is not a cultivar. It is an unregistered Shizuoka breeding line the programme rejected, kept alive by mountain growers, and named by a tea picker.

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Koshun Tea: The Shizuoka Cultivar Bred for Aroma

Koshun Tea: The Shizuoka Cultivar Bred for Aroma

Koshun tea comes from a Shizuoka cultivar registered in 2000, a cross of Kurasawa and Kanayamidori. Cooling, herb-like aroma, and why deep steaming works against it.

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Yamakai Tea: The Shizuoka Cultivar Called Natural Gyokuro

Yamakai Tea: The Shizuoka Cultivar Called Natural Gyokuro

Yamakai tea comes from a Shizuoka cultivar selected from Yabukita seedlings and named in 1967. It suits shade, and one old nickname for it is natural gyokuro.

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Sakimidori Tea Cultivar: Miyazaki's Bright-Green Sencha

Sakimidori Tea Cultivar: Miyazaki's Bright-Green Sencha

Sakimidori tea is Cha Norin No. 47, a Miyazaki sencha cultivar crossed in 1979. It is picked with Yabukita or up to 2 days earlier and yields 20 to 40% more.

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Koganemidori Tea: Japan's Golden-Leaf Green Tea, Explained

Koganemidori Tea: Japan's Golden-Leaf Green Tea, Explained

Koganemidori is an unregistered golden-leaf tea from one Shizuoka farm. Full sun turns it gold, and it carries 2.4 times the free amino acids of Yabukita.

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Minamisayaka Tea Cultivar: Miyazaki's Milk-Tea Aroma, Explained

Minamisayaka Tea Cultivar: Miyazaki's Milk-Tea Aroma, Explained

Minamisayaka is a Miyazaki sencha cultivar with Assam and Caucasus ancestry. NARO describes a floral aroma reminiscent of milk tea, and says shallower steaming brings it out.

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Kuritawase Tea Cultivar: From Shizuoka Seed to Tanegashima

Kuritawase Tea Cultivar: From Shizuoka Seed to Tanegashima

Kuritawase is Tanegashima's extremely early tea cultivar, chosen from Shizuoka seed sown in 1909 and plucked about 13 days before Yabukita in NARO trials.

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