Okuhikari

 

 

 

 

 

Okuhikari: Late-maturity cultivar with superior aroma and fine color of infusion when brewed, suitable for mountainous areas

 

   

 

Cultivar characteristics

“Okuhikari” is a late-maturity cultivar that is 5 to 6 days slower than “Yabukita”; its tree shape is upright and it possesses strong vigor. The mature leaves are oblong in shape, and the leaf color is dark green with a rich gloss. The shoots in the harvesting period are bigger with branches trimmed less; the yield is about the same as “Yabukita”. Its resistance to cold, red wilt, and laceration type frost damage is stronger than “Yabukita” and it easily to avoids frost damage because it is a late-maturity cultivar. It is strong against disease-resistant anthracnose, ring spot and rice blast, but very weak against red blight and leaf blight.

 

Quality characteristics

The appearance of “Okuhikari” is sword-like slender; when processed it is firmly shaped and the color is dark green with a sharp gloss. It has a distinctive aroma which differs from that of “Yabukita”, and the infusion is bright in color. It is a powerful and excellent cultivar. The flavor is slightly astringent for the brightness of the infusion, but it is softened when cultivated in mountainous areas.

 

Notes on cultivation

 The tree shape is more upright than “Yabukita” so it is necessary to tailor the trees to spread horizontally and because it has a small number of buds and a strong tendency to grow heavier buds, it is necessary to have branch trimmings which increase the overall number of buds. Since it is extremely vulnerable to red blight, careful control is required in the early young stage and in natural grown tea trees in open fields.

 

Notes on processing

The infusion of “Okuhikari” is bright green, powerful and superior in color. If you feel the astringency is rather strong for its infusion color and it is difficult to commercialize, you may want to make it slightly steamed, like the Fukamushi type of tea tree. However, “Okuhikari”  is a little unsuitable as a deep steamed tea because of its dark green color.

 

Dissemination and land suitability for cultivation

 “Okuhikari” is an upright, vigorous tree with a very shiny dark green leaf color. It is a fine quality late-maturity cultivar, rich in perfume, with a wonderful infusion color in terms of crude tea quality. It is suitable for combination cultivation after “Yabukita” which is a medium-maturity cultivar. It is particularly resistant to cold and anthracnose, and in terms of quality it has excellent color, luster and flavor when grown in mountainous areas.