Shirakawa Saemidori Shincha
RishouenA bright and refreshing tea with a soft and creamy taste, this shincha captures the lightness and freshness of spring.
Producer: Rishouen
Region: Shirakawa, Kyoto
Cultivar: Saemidori
Harvested: April 2025
Picking: Handheld Machine
Located a short drive south of Uji City, Shirakawa's tea fields are nestled among rolling hills. This area is lnown primarily for producing high-grade gyokuro. Though much smaller than the nearby Wazuka and Ujitawara regions, Shirakawa is a prime growing area for top-tier Ujicha.
Saemidori was registered in 1990, 21 years after it was first bred from a cross between Asatsuyu and Yabukita. With the intent of combining the high-quality taste of Asatsuyu with the high yield and frost resistance of Yabukita, Saemidori is a popular cultivar for sencha, fukamushicha, and gyokuro in the more southern tea producing regions, such as Kagoshima and Fukuoka. With a name meaning ‘clear green’, Saemidori is known for is vibrant colour, high umami, and low astringency
Brewing Instructions
Traditional
Hot Tea
Use 2 g (0.07 oz) of tea leaves for every 50 ml (1.70 oz) of water
Heat your water to 85º C (185º F) or cool boiling water by pouring it into the cups, then into the teapot
Let it steep for 45 seconds before pouring slowly until the last drop. Enjoy!
Rishouen (利招園)
Descended from a family of tea farmers, the head of Rishouen, Koji Kagata now focuses on working with high-grade tencha producers in Uji and the greater Kyoto tea producing region to create top-tier matcha blends suitable for use both inside the tearoom and in day-to-day life. As a practitioner of the Japanese tea ceremony himself, Kagata-san has a keen sense for blending exquisite matcha for usucha and koicha
Rishouen (利招園) is a small, family owned tea producer located in Uji, Kyoto. Founded in 1947, they specialise in selecting tencha from the best fields in Kyoto before skillfully fine-tuning blend recipes and flavour profiles to produce high-grade matcha