This is one of the first batches of freshly milled, new crop matcha we are releasing as "Shincha Matcha," made from 2025 crop tencha. This micro-lot is a single field, unblended batch of hand-picked Samidori bushes cultivated by the famous Joyo tea farmer, Mr. Watanabe. The tencha was refined and stone milled for us by Hisaki Horii, an 8th generation gyokuro and matcha producer. He is running his family’s Uji, Kyoto-based tea business, Hekisuien, which was established in 1867. Horii San is our exclusive source of prestigious teas from Joyo and the Kyoto, Uji region. Each year, we work with Horii San to select the best Uji matcha and gyokuro.

The Samidori tea variety is very famous and was originally selected from the tea garden of Mr. Masajiro Koyama in Kyoto Prefecture during the early Showa period (1926–1989). Samidori translates to “early green” and was designated as an “encouraged variety” by the Kyoto Prefecture Tea Research Institute in 1954. The father tea bush variety is unknown, but the mother variety was a native Uji zai rai variety.

Samidori has a strong sweetness, umami, and savory taste with a fresh and vibrant citrus-like aroma. The soft leaves and bright green color of Samidori make it suitable for high-grade teas such as matcha and gyokuro. It is the most widely cultivated tea bush variety for tencha in Kyoto and is known as the variety that gives Uji matcha its unique flavor.