Here are the items that we found.
< 1% of all matcha
is how much Seimei is produced in Japan each harvest year.
The young cultivar is grown exclusively in the Kagoshima highlands where surrounding ancient volcanic soils deliver ultra-nutrient dense growth to its tea crop. The high elevation of the terroir allows the growth here, for seimei in particular, to move slower than most traditional cultivars. This delivers a very refined leaf cell structure while maintaining a low astringent taste experience after drying and milling.
This naturally instilled complexity and small footprint of bespoke farmers producing it, our Seimei is able to be shaded with Honzu, the traditional bamboo tea covering. The use of the coverings is quickly fading from Japan as western demand for Matcha forces evolution of farmer practices. However rare and considered cultivars like Seimei still command a storied reverence from their growers, earning an experience as close to tradition as possible.
We first imported Seimei at the beginning of the summer season to much enthusiasm from rare cultivar enjoyers. For this reason we optioned the final first harvest allocation for a limited replenishment of the black label matcha.