Organic Matcha - Gyokuro and Sencha from Yame : Koga Gyo

kUMIKO KOGA

4th Generation of Tea Masters

Koga Kumiko san represents the fourth generation at her family business KOGACHA GYO in Yame, Fukuoka. Working alongside her mother, president of the company, and her father, director of operations, she is a tea instructor.

Dedicated to lead her company through the challenges of the green tea industry in the 21st century, she is in charge of overseas sales. She also travels around the world to give tea seminars to introduce Yame green tea to foreign tea lovers.
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EXCELLENCE

80 years of know-how

KOGACHAGYO are among the leaders of the green tea industry in Fukuoka prefecture. Applying the most stringent tests and ISO 9001 certified, they are proud to be among the few in Kyushu offering a wide range of delicious organic green tea, as well as EU-certified sencha and gyokuro.

Founded in 1938, they are today a dedicated team of 30 tea professionals led by the Koga family under the direction of Koga Satoko, president and CEO, and Koga Masahiro, executive director.

Their skills and expertise are recognised at the highest levels: their gyokuro wins regularly the top prizes at national competitions and their sencha is served in the luxury train « Seven Stars in Kyushu »

THE YAME REGION

An ideal climate

The most renowned plantations in Fukuoka prefecture are located in Yame area. Yame City is in a vast expanse of plain in Chikushi Region (Chikushi Plain) in the south of Fukuoka Prefecture.

Chikushi Plain is blessed with an ideally wonderful climate and fertile soil conditions for agricultural production.

In particular, the area ranging from Chikugo River basin to Yabe River basin (called as Yame Region) has produced green tea for centuries.

Thanks to the area's particular soil, most of the green tea produced in this region has a full-bodied taste and a remarkable sweetness.

Morning mists and river fogs are very frequent. Curtains of fog wrap green tea plantations, properly blocking sunlight.

This helps generating more amino acids (including theanine, glutamic acid, arginine, etc.) within the tea leaves.

In addition, Yame enjoys an inland climate－high temperature during daytime and very low temperatures at night.

Finally, the region receives an annual rainfall of 1,600 mm to 2,400 mm. These features are ideal for green tea production.

LAND OF THE GYOKURO

Highest grade in Japan

Yame Region is proud of its top production amount of gyokuro (Highest Quality). As much as 45% of all gyokuro available on Japanese market comes from Yame Region. That is the reason Yame is famous and known as one of the few production places of highest quality green tea in Japan.

Yame Gyokuro won Best Prize in the All Japan Green Tea Competition for 12 consecutive years from 2001 to 2012, as well as in 2014 and 2015. In 2014, Yame Green Tea won Best Prize in the sections of both Green Tea (Middle Grade) and Gyokuro Green Tea (Highest Grade).

In 2007, Yame Green Tea took the all the places from the 1st place to the 26th place in the Gyokuro Competition Section, showing its overwhelming excellence over green teas produced in other regions in Japan.

THE TEAS OF KOGA CHA GYO

A family Business and know-how

Koga cha gyo is a family business. The expertise of the Koga family is poured into each and every type of green tea they make, all of them a perfect example of what Yame tea does best.

Their award-winning gyokuro (available in gift set here), their powerful and fragrant sencha (in gift set here) or their incredible organic matcha made from leaves grown in the warm regions of Kagoshima are all bound to amaze you.

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