Sonogi, Nagasaki Matcha

Sonogi is best known for tamaryokucha, the curly steamed-leaf style, and only started producing matcha in 2018.

The Higashisonogi region in Nagasaki, on a plateau overlooking Omura Bay, is one of Japan's most important tamaryokucha (also called guricha) production areas. The region grows roughly 750 tons of tea annually, accounting for about 60% of Nagasaki's total. Tamaryokucha itself is a niche format, only about 2% of Japan's domestic tea, and Higashisonogi is the dominant origin for it.

Matcha production here is much newer. In 2018, four established tamaryokucha-producing families formed the Forthees cooperative and built a small tencha factory. They shade Yabukita and Tsuyu cultivars under nylon for 21 days before machine harvest, then process to tencha and mill on-site. The result is matcha with the structural shading of conventional ceremonial-grade tea, but built on a leaf base bred for the bay-influenced Nagasaki climate rather than Uji's foggy slopes.

Kettl sells one Sonogi matcha in our database (Tsurukage). The flavor profile differs from both Uji and Kagoshima. Coastal influence shows up as a slight saline edge, with the lighter body of a younger production region. Worth tasting once if you've worked through the more established origins.