TeaHQ

Samidori

One of the principal Uji matcha cultivars, valued for a rounded, less aggressive umami than Gokou and for consistent stone-milling behaviour.

さみどりCamellia sinensis var. sinensisJapan

Where it sits in the botany

Samidori 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: samidori.

What the plant is like

Frequently blended with Gokou: Samidori for body, Gokou for aroma. Single-cultivar matcha is the exception rather than the norm.

Why a grower plants it

Yield, hardiness, when it buds, what it resists and whether a machine can cut it. This is the half of a cultivar’s identity that decides what is actually in the ground, and it is usually left out of writing aimed at drinkers.

An Uji cultivar kept for what it does under a shading structure rather than for field performance. It holds colour through a long cover, produces a soft leaf that mills cleanly to a fine even particle without a gritty fraction, and yields moderately — acceptable in a category where the finished product carries a very high price per kilogram. Its shortcomings are the ordinary ones of an older regional selection: no particular disease resistance, and a moderate rather than generous yield.

What it does in the cup

Rounded and thick with a broad savoury sweetness and an unusually low bitter edge — body rather than aroma. Set beside Gokou, which is aromatic and pointed, Samidori is the base a blend is built on.

How much of this is really the cultivar?

Uji's own practice is the argument against overstating cultivar here: the region's most respected matcha is blended, deliberately, across cultivars and often across gardens, precisely because no single plant gives the whole shape. That is a producer telling you the cultivar is a component. The variables above it are the length and density of shading, the leaf grade going into tencha, whether stem and vein are fully removed, and the mill. Single-cultivar matcha is a legitimate speciality product and it is also a departure from how the finest examples of the category have historically been made.

Cultivar, growing site and processing all shape a cup, and the cultivar is very often the smallest of the three. It is also the one that fits on a label, so almost every commercial incentive runs toward overstating it. This section is on every cultivar page that has been reviewed for it, including the ones where the honest answer is “less than you would think”.

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 Samidori

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

Written comparisons

Where TeaHQ has set this cultivar against something it is routinely confused with, and argued the differences out in full.

  • Samidori vs Gokou — The two principal Uji matcha cultivars, and they are usually blended precisely because they do different jobs. Samidori supplies body and Gokou supplies aroma, and a single-cultivar matcha from either is the exception rather than the norm.
  • Samidori vs Ujihikari — Two Uji shading cultivars that end up in the same blends doing different jobs. Samidori supplies body and volume; Ujihikari supplies the response to a long shade. Neither is usually sold on its own, which is why the distinction is invisible to most drinkers.