Sonogi Tea Farm

Overlooking central Nagasaki's Ōmura Bay is Sonogi tea cooperative—a 400 hectare plot run by 6 forward-thinking tea producers. Without the regional pedigree Uji holds, the Sonogi 6 leverage their combined tea making perspectives to turn out Japanese standards that are anything but.

Sonogi is a fully integrated operation, with tencha making and milling facilities on-site. Organic certification is impossible, here—their tea trees are fertilized with a fermented compost of wild-caught fish from the bay, making for richly nourished teas that are uniquely Nagaski. Matcha SONOGI is the peak of their output, and a vivid representation of the seaside terroir.