Seimei (せいめい), written with the Chinese characters 清茗 can be translated as “clean and pure tea”.
This cultivar is highly suitable for making shaded teas such as tencha.
History of Seimei
In 1992 at the Institute of Fruit Tree and Tea Science of Makurazaki in Kagoshima prefecture, Fuushun and Saemidori where crossed.
The best seedling was selected and it was registered as Seimei in 2017.
Characteristics of Seimei
Seimei can be harvested two days earlier than Yabukita.
It has a good resistance to cold weather, so it can be cultivated as far north as Saitama prefecture.
While it is very weak against the white peach scale, Seimei has a medium resistance to anthracnose and bacterial shoot blight, good resistance against the blister blight, and strong resistance to the gray blight.
It is easy to cultivate and fares well under the shading process, offering more yield when shaded than Yabukita.
This cultivar has leaves that are thin and bright green in color. It also has a high umami taste and low astringency.
That’s why it is very suitable for making matcha. It has a better color than Yabukita and a higher amino acid content.
As a sencha, it exhibits a good quality but it is a little harder to roll into the right shape.
The aroma of Seimei is sweet and slightly creamy.
Because of the higher demand for matcha, we may be seeing this cultivar more often in the future.
