Prices collected 27 August 2026 from fifteen American sellers’ own listings, with planting figures from Kyoto Prefecture.
A cultivar is a tea variety, like a grape variety in wine. Some tins name one — Okumidori, Samidori, Asahi — and most don’t.
Naming one costs you money. American matcha that names a Uji cultivar and nothing else runs about $5.43 a bowl, against $3.35 for tins that name no cultivar at all.
| What the tin names | Per bowl |
|---|---|
| A Uji cultivar, and only that one | $5.43 |
| A Uji cultivar alongside others | $4.00 |
| Some other cultivar | $3.60 |
| No cultivar at all | $3.35 |
Which name matters, too:
| Cultivar | Per bowl |
|---|---|
| Ujihikari | $7.90 |
| Asahi | $6.40 |
| Samidori | $5.43 |
| Saemidori | $4.00 |
| Okumidori | $3.00 |
Is it worth it? Only if you know what you are buying. The premium is real and it is large, and below we explain what each name actually is — so you can decide whether the tea or the name is what you want.
The five Uji names
Four of the expensive names come from the same place and the same year. In 1954, Kyoto growers and the prefectural research institute selected several varieties out of Uji’s native seed stock:
| Name | Where it came from | Chosen by |
|---|---|---|
| Asahi | Uji native seed stock, 1954 | Hirano Jinnojō, a grower |
| Samidori | Uji native seed stock, 1954 | Koyama Masajirō, a grower |
| Gokō | Uji native seed stock, 1954 | Kyoto Prefectural Tea Research Institute |
| Ujihikari | 1954, line name Kyōken No. 170 | Kyoto Prefectural Tea Research Institute |
| Ujimidori | Uji native seed stock, 1983 | Kyoto Prefectural Tea Research Institute |
Kyoto’s own recommendation list rates Asahi and Samidori as top-tier for tencha — the leaf that becomes matcha. Gokō it rates highest for gyokuro rather than matcha, and credits it with a distinctive aroma.
So if you are buying matcha specifically, Asahi and Samidori are the names Kyoto itself points at.
Yabukita, the fifth name you will see, is different. It is Japan’s default tea variety — about half of everything planted — and it was registered for sencha, not tencha. It is not a bad matcha cultivar, but it is the ordinary one.
What Kyoto actually plants
This is where the price premium starts to look odd. Kyoto’s own tencha acreage:
| Cultivar | Share of Kyoto’s planted area |
|---|---|
| Yabukita | 51.5% |
| Okumidori | 13.8% |
| Samidori | 10.5% |
| Gokō | 4.6% |
| Hōshun | 2.4% |
Half of Kyoto’s tea is Yabukita — the cheap, ordinary name. And Okumidori, the second-most-planted, is the cheapest of the named cultivars on American shelves at $3.00 a bowl.
The expensive names are expensive partly because they are rare, not only because they are better.
Kyoto is converting its fields to matcha, fast
The most striking number in the prefecture’s figures is not about cultivars at all:
| 2023 | 2025 | |
|---|---|---|
| Tencha gardens (for matcha) | 537 ha | 717 ha (+34%) |
| Sencha gardens | 422 ha | 225 ha (−47%) |
In two years Kyoto’s matcha acreage grew by a third while its sencha acreage nearly halved. Farmers are pulling out leaf tea and planting matcha, because matcha pays roughly three times as much per kilo.
That is the supply side of the matcha boom, and it is why prices have moved the way they have.
What each name tastes like
Sellers describe them fairly consistently:
| Cultivar | umami | sweet | bitter | mellow |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Saemidori | 91% | 73% | 45% | 55% |
| Asahi | 78% | 22% | 11% | 33% |
| Okumidori | 70% | 70% | 42% | 48% |
| Samidori | 57% | 50% | 21% | 50% |
| Yabukita | 47% | 47% | 59% | 29% |
Saemidori is the umami one. Nine in ten listings reach for that word.
Yabukita is the one most often called bitter — which fits its reputation as the workhorse rather than the delicate one.
Okumidori is described as both sweet and umami more often than most, which makes it a good pick at $3.00 a bowl.
How to read a cultivar name when you’re buying
- A named cultivar is information, not a guarantee. It tells you the shop knows what it bought.
- Okumidori is the value pick. Well-regarded, widely planted, and the cheapest of the named varieties.
- Asahi and Samidori are what Kyoto recommends for matcha. If you want the classic Uji character, those are the names.
- Saemidori if you want umami. Sellers are near-unanimous about it.
- Yabukita is not a red flag. It is half of Japan’s crop and a perfectly good tea. It just isn’t special.
- A blend naming several cultivars is not worse than a single one. Most matcha is blended on purpose, to a house style, and the blend is the skill.
Questions people ask
What is the best matcha cultivar?
Kyoto’s own list rates Asahi and Samidori highest for matcha. Whether they suit you is a matter of taste.
Is single-cultivar matcha better than a blend?
Not necessarily. Blending is a craft and most fine matcha is blended. A single cultivar is a distinct experience, not automatically a better one.
What is Okumidori matcha?
A late-picking variety, second most planted in Kyoto after Yabukita. Sellers describe it as sweet and umami-rich, and it is the cheapest of the named cultivars.
Is Yabukita matcha bad?
No. It is Japan’s standard variety and about half of what Kyoto plants. Sellers call it bitter more often than the others, which is a style rather than a fault.
Why does naming a cultivar cost more?
Partly because the named varieties are rarer, partly because shops that know their cultivar tend to know — and charge for — everything else about the tea too.
Based on American matcha listings from fifteen sellers read 27 August 2026, and Kyoto Prefecture’s published planting figures for 2023–2025. Per-bowl figures use 2 g.
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