TeaHQ

Okumusashi

A late-budding cultivar associated with Saitama and the Sayama district, which sits near the northern limit of commercial tea in Honshu. Cultivars for that district are selected under a constraint the southern prefectures do not have: the plant must survive a real winter and must not break dormancy so early that a late frost takes the crop, and lateness is therefore a hardiness strategy rather than only a scheduling one.

おくむさしCamellia sinensis var. sinensisJapan

Where it sits in the botany

Okumusashi is recorded under Camellia sinensis var. sinensis, the variety group one level above cultivar. It is associated with Japan, which is where it was selected or is most widely planted rather than the only place it grows.

Also transliterated as: okumusashi, oku musashi.

Where it came from

A late-season selection propagated in the Sayama district of Saitama.

How firm this is: Inferred rather than taken from a primary breeding or registration record. Breeding date and parentage were not verified against a primary source.

What the plant is like

Late and cold-tolerant, and generally finished with the strong final firing that Sayama practice is known for, which does as much to the cup as the plant does.

What it is usually made into

The categories this cultivar is typically processed into. It is a statement about common practice, not a limit — processing decides the category, and a cultivar can be taken down more than one route.

  • Green tea — Tea whose oxidation is halted early by heat, keeping the leaf green and the cup fresh, vegetal or marine in character.

Teas in the catalogue made from Okumusashi

Other cultivars in Camellia sinensis var. sinensis

Sources

  • TeaHQ editorial synthesis — TeaHQ

This page is TeaHQ’s own synthesis throughout. No breeding register or institutional record stands behind the account above, which is why the origin note carries its confidence in the open rather than reading as a citation.

How TeaHQ handles sources