Nanmei is one of the newest cultivars in Japan, only released in 2012 and registered in 2014 by the National Agriculture and Food Research Organization in Japan. It is a cross between Sayama Kaori and Makurazaki 13 (first created in 1992), and is the first tea cultivar in the world to be developed using DNA marker-assisted selection (note: not DNA-modification, but identifying characteristics in the DNA of the cultivars chosen to be parents), which was used to select the gene, MSR1, to confer resistance to white peach scale disease (Pseudaulacaspis pentagona (Targioni)).

Nanmei is an early sprouting cultivar (10 days earlier than Yabukita, and 6 days earlier for crop harvest). The researchers believe it is best suited for warmer climates in Southern Japan like that of Tanegashima Island. The cultivar tends to produce better yield and tea quality than Yabukita.

Source: "'Nanmei’, a New Early-Budding Green Tea Cultivar Resistant to Multiple-Pests, and Suitable for Warm Regions" ( Bulletin of the NARO, Fruit Tree and Tea Science)

Product Info

Ingredients: Green tea
Harvest: April
Region: Tanegashima Island, Kagoshima
Steaming: Regular