TeaHQ

Seimei

One of the more recent Japanese releases, bred in the national programme rather than by a prefecture, and part of a group of cultivars selected for a distinct aroma instead of for yield or budding date. Cultivars of this kind exist because Japanese green tea has a structural problem the plant can help with: when nearly every field is Yabukita, a producer who wants a tea that cannot be blended into a commodity lot has very little to work with, and a differently scented cultivar is the cheapest available answer.

せいめいCamellia sinensis var. sinensisJapan

Where it sits in the botany

Seimei 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: seimei.

Where it came from

A selection from Japan’s national tea breeding programme, released in the twenty-first century among a group of aroma-directed cultivars.

How firm this is: Inferred rather than taken from a primary breeding or registration record. The release year and parentage were not verified against a primary source and are not asserted here.

What the plant is like

Grown in small quantity by producers looking for a single-cultivar tea with a recognisable signature. As with all the aroma-bred Japanese cultivars, heavy steaming works against the character it was selected for.

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 Seimei

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