When searching for the best matcha in South Africa, people often focus on colour, origin, or whether the powder is labelled as ceremonial grade or not. While these are all important indicators, one of the biggest influences on a matcha’s flavour and texture begins long before the leaves are even harvested.
Before we can understand the taste profiles and health benefits of matcha, we need to take a look at the plant itself. Understanding cultivars can help explain why different ceremonial-grade powders can taste so different from one another. If you’ve ever wondered why matcha tastes bitter, the answer often lies in the plant's cultivar genetics.
What is a Matcha Cultivar?
Matcha comes from the same species of tea plant that produces black, green, and oolong tea. Called Camellia sinensis, the tea plant originates from East Asia, thriving typically in cool, high-altitude regions. In fact, tea plants don’t grow natively in Japan. The plants used to make Japanese matcha were first brought to Japan from China almost 900 years ago, after which Japanese growers developed new cultivars specifically suited to their own climatic and growing conditions.
Today, Japan is home to more than 100 registered tea cultivars, although only a handful are considered suitable for producing high-quality ceremonial-grade matcha. The word matcha simply refers to the type of tea, which is shade-grown, hand-picked in the first spring harvest, and stone-ground into a fine powder.
In short, a cultivar is a variety of a plant that has been selectively bred for particular characteristics. Different cultivars mature at different times, some have a more vibrant colour than others, and they all have slightly different tastes. Each one also contains different levels of amino acids, antioxidants, and chlorophyll, all of which influence both the flavour and some of the many celebrated nutritional benefits of matcha. For example, cultivars that are naturally high in L-theanine tend to produce a sweeter drink while offering that desirable calm, focused energy. Different cultivars also have unique catechin profiles, which can be the primary reason why your matcha tastes bitter.
Think of cultivars as the foundation on which everything else is built.
Yabukita
Yabukita is by far Japan's most widely grown tea cultivar, accounting for the majority of the country's tea production. Its name comes from the region where this plant was originally grown, literally translating to ‘north of the bamboo grove’.
It’s known for its bright spring grass aromatics and is often said to have a pine-needle aftertaste. It’s not dramatic, yet not soft. Rather, it offers a remarkable consistency that gives it strength in the Japanese market.
Its popularity also stems from its growing strength. The cultivar is highly resistant to frost, making it well-suited to the cooler mountainous regions of central Japan and allowing farmers to grow several dependable harvests year-round. This makes it a cost-effective option for much of the country. That said, its slightly grassy taste profile isn't always the first choice for the South African matcha market.
Okumidori
Okumidori, used in Ceremony’s Single Estate Blend, directly translates to ‘late green’ in Japanese. It gets its name from the late budding and harvest period unique to this cultivar.
It’s loved for its deep emerald colour and its sweeter, creamier taste when compared with Yabukita. It gets its unique flavour from its late maturity, with the extra growing time allowing it to develop a creamier texture with a soft vegetal sweetness.
Compared with Yabukita, Okumidori is noticeably less grassy and carries very little bitterness, making it as popular in South African matcha lattes as it is for those who prefer to drink it straight.
This cultivar thrives in the warmer climate of southern Japan, especially around Kagoshima, where the weather isn’t so prone to morning frost.
Saemidori
Saemidori, which translates to ‘clear green’, reflects this particular cultivar's bright colour. Saemidori is actually a cross between two other cultivars of Yabukita and Asatsuyu. It’s got a more delicate, fresh, fruity, and floral taste profile that contributes to its sweet, perfume-like aroma.
Saemidori is typically harvested in the early season, when the leaves are at their most tender, and has become increasingly popular for ceremonial-grade matcha powders because of its smooth mouthfeel. Saemidori makes up the second cultivar in Ceremony’s Single Estate Blend, achieving a complete harmony of sweetness, aroma, colour, and texture.
Samidori
Not to be confused with Saemidori, Samidori is another floral-aroma matcha with a conveniently long harvest window, making it an easy plant to work with. It has deep historical roots in Uji, and is known as one of the original Uji cultivars.
Gokou
Gokou is one of the most prized matcha cultivars in Japan, but isn’t commonly found on the shelves of other countries.
It’s a thick cultivar prized for its powerful savoury character, bringing nori seaweed and dashi broth onto the palate. Because of its rich, deep character, Gokou is often used to prepare koicha, a thick ceremonial tea served in traditional Japanese tea ceremonies.
Asahi
Meaning ‘morning sun,’ Asahi is another rare Japanese matcha cultivar with a deep, velvety flavour, often described as creamy with subtle chocolate notes and a coffee-like crema on top. Despite its rich concentration of amino acids, it has almost no astringency or bitter aftertaste. For these reasons, Asahi is often the powder of choice for formal tea ceremonies in Japan.
Asatsuyu
Asatsuyu is one of the sweeter cultivars on the list. The plant is notoriously finicky to grow and especially sensitive to cold frost, factors that contribute to it being one of the rarest cultivars in commercial production. When farmers do get it right, asatsuyu has a gentle, umami-rich, sweet taste that makes it an easy entry point for those new to matcha.
