Most matcha brands don't tell you which cultivar they use.
They'll tell you it's ceremonial grade. They'll tell you it's from Japan. They might mention a region if you're lucky. But the cultivar — the specific variety of tea plant the matcha is made from — is often left off the tin entirely.
That detail matters more than most people realise.
The cultivar is one of the biggest determining factors in how a matcha tastes, how it looks, and how it feels to drink. It shapes the colour, the sweetness, the umami depth, the finish. Two matchas from the same region, harvested at the same time, can taste completely different simply because they come from different cultivars.
We use Okumidori. And we don't use anything else.
Here's why...
What Is a Matcha Cultivar?
Before we get into Okumidori specifically, it's worth understanding what a cultivar actually is.
Tea — Camellia sinensis — has been cultivated in Japan for centuries. Over time, growers selectively bred plants for specific qualities: flavour, yield, resilience, shade tolerance, colour. The result is hundreds of named cultivars, each with its own character.
In the matcha world, the most widely known cultivar is Yabukita — it accounts for the vast majority of green tea grown in Japan and is the default for much of the matcha you'll encounter. It's reliable, high-yielding, and broadly pleasant.
But "broadly pleasant" has never been what we're after.
What Makes Okumidori Different
Okumidori — which translates roughly as "deep green" — is a cultivar developed in the 1970s and grown predominantly in the Kyoto region of Japan, including the mist-covered hills of Wazuka, where ours is sourced.
It is not the most common matcha cultivar. It's more demanding to grow, lower-yielding, and slower to develop. But the cup it produces is, in our view, worth every bit of that.
| Yabukita | Okumidori | |
| Prevalence | Most widely grown — the default | Less common, more demanding to grow |
| Colour | Standard green | Deeper, more saturated emerald |
| Flavour | Reliable, broadly pleasant | Rich umami depth, gentle lingering sweetness |
| Finish | Can be more astringent | Clean, sweet, low bitterness |
| Yield | High-yielding | Lower-yielding, slower to develop |
The colour
Okumidori produces a vivid, saturated emerald green — deeper and more intense than many other cultivars. This isn't superficial. Colour is a direct indicator of chlorophyll content, which is a direct indicator of quality. When you whisk Okumidori matcha and watch the green bloom into froth, you know something exceptional is happening.
The flavour
This is where Okumidori earns its reputation. It has a naturally rich umami depth — that savoury, rounded quality that makes high-quality matcha so distinct — balanced with a gentle, lingering sweetness. It's complex without being aggressive. Smooth without being flat.
The finish
Lower quality matchas often have a harsh, bitter finish — the kind that makes you reach for sugar before you've decided you like it. Okumidori is different. It finishes clean and sweet, with none of the astringency that puts so many people off matcha entirely.
The shade tolerance
Okumidori is particularly well-suited to the shade-growing process that defines premium matcha production. Covered for several weeks before harvest, the plant responds by producing higher concentrations of L-theanine — the amino acid responsible for matcha's calm, focused energy — and intensifying the chlorophyll that gives it that signature colour.
Why Wazuka?
Okumidori can be grown in several regions of Japan, but not all growing conditions are equal.
Wazuka is a small town in the Kyoto prefecture, about an hour southeast of the city. It sits in a narrow valley where cool mountain air and morning mist create the kind of microclimate that tea plants — and Okumidori in particular — thrive in.
The combination of altitude, humidity, and temperature variation between day and night slows the growth of the leaves and concentrates their flavour. Farmers in Wazuka have been growing tea for over 800 years. The knowledge of how to coax the best from this land has been passed down through generations.
It's not an accident that some of Japan's most celebrated matcha comes from here. And it's not an accident that this is where we source ours.
Why This Isn't Widely Known in the UK
Matcha has grown dramatically in popularity in the UK over the last few years — but most of the conversation still happens at the surface level. Ceremonial vs culinary. Japanese vs Chinese. Latte vs traditional.
The deeper story — cultivar, harvest, processing, provenance — rarely makes it onto British shelves or café menus.
Part of that is the supply chain. Specialist cultivars like Okumidori are harder to source consistently than mass-produced Yabukita. They require relationships with specific farms, a commitment to quality over volume, and a willingness to pay for the difference.
Part of it is simply that most brands don't think their customers will care.
We think you do.
What This Means in Your Cup of Magic Matcha
All of this — the cultivar, the region, the shade-growing, the stone-grinding — has a direct and noticeable effect on what you actually experience.
It means a matcha that's vivid and bright, not dull or yellow. That whisks into a smooth, even froth rather than clumping at the bottom. That tastes naturally sweet and complex, without needing to be masked with sugar or buried under milk (although it tastes great with both too!)
It means a matcha that can hold its own as the main event — though it also makes an exceptional iced latte.
It means something worth slowing down for.
The Honest Version
We could have chosen a less demanding cultivar. We could have sourced from a larger, more commercially focused farm and passed the saving on. We could have written "ceremonial grade" on the sachet and left it at that.
But Magic Matcha was built around the belief that what's in the sachet matters — and that the people who reach for it every morning (or afternoon) deserve to know exactly what that is.
Okumidori. First harvest. Shade-grown. Stone-ground on granite mills. Wazuka, Japan.
That's Magic Matcha.
Magic Matcha is Okumidori matcha, first harvest, shade-grown, stone-ground on granite mills, sourced from Wazuka, Japan. Available in 25g sachets with a free Magic Matcha tin (The Deck) with every first order.
