Akihiro Kita
Tea Farmer
Curates our delicious Gokou Matcha
Located:
Wazuka, Japan
Favourite Tea:
A fresh, light green tea
Akihiro Kita
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Akihiro Kita - AKA Akky - is the head farmer at our Matcha farm.
He discovered his love for this delicious powdered tea when working as a farmhand in Wazuka, Japan - and before he'd even finished college, he decided to devote his life to mastering the intricate art of tea farming.
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For many years, Akky worked his absolute ass off - until finally in 2004, he had the funds and the expertise to buy, build, and eventually run his very own tea farm. Now, it produces (arguably) the most delicious matcha in the world. He works with a very small team of highly talented and passionate individuals, and together they make quite the team.
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Akky knows that independent farmers like himself are invaluable to the tea industry - but as the number of small-scale Japanese tea farmers decline each year, this becomes an issue which affects everyone. As such, Akky travels each year during the winter off-season to introduce people around the world to Japanese tea - and the importance of this lesser-known profession.
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His energy is contagious - you simply cannot help but get excited about tea when Akky talks about how water 'feels more alive' once it has been boiled, or describes the pure beauty of wild Wazuka. He says that he relies on three main pillars for his tea philosophy: Quality, community, and education: the same as us at Eisa Tea Co.!
Alongside Akky, the person in charge of processing our Matcha is a young man called Hirokazu Matsumoto.
Hiro has many responsibilities in regards to producing the tea - he ensures that the processing runs smoothly, he makes sure that the rest of the staff are safe and happy, he hosts tea-related events to share the latest pluckings with the locals, and he even runs tours of the tea garden to put the spotlight on their delicious teas!
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Together, Akky and Hiro work side-by-side to produce a bright, sweet Matcha that knocks all the others out the park.
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And of course, the duo employs the best weed-killers in the business to maintain the farm: namely, two Tokarayagi goats called Sencha and Hojicha!
Sencha + Hojicha
Garden Maintenance
Help out on our Gokou Matcha farm
Located:
Wazuka, Kyoto, Japan
Favourite Tea:
They actually love everything that grows AROUND the tea!
We are pleased to announce that in June 2019, two baby Tokarayagi goats joined our Japan farm! Their names are Sencha and Hojicha, and they are the darn cutest creatures you will ever see.
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Working alongside the wonderful Akky and Hiro, these pesky blighters help to grow our delicious Gokou Matcha.
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They have a lot of responsibility on the farm: namely, eating up all of the grasses and weeds to keep the sustainable tea bushes tidy for harvests. They keep the farmers entertained, they keep the land clean, AND they're excellent guard goats.
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What more could you want from two tea-loving goats?
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Latest Updates
June 2021
We are coming to the end of the Spring Harvest! Akky has been working his ass off since April to make sure that the leaves are all plucked. The team over at the farm have their own theory about what he is made from - he is only human during the day, as at night, he returns to his original form... a tea bush!
May 2021
The Global Japanese Tea Association hosted an online 'Meet the Tea Farmer' event where Akky talked about the beauty of Japanese tea to an audience of people from Belgium, Portugal, the USA, Japan, and Spain. We don't mean to be biased, but it was pretty awesome!
February 2021
A young girl called Miyu has started her internship at Akky's sustainable tea farm, and she is having a wonderful time! She has spent most of her time harvesting (it's a great season for it, after all!), and even though the leaves can get a little heavy after a while, she's determined to become a 'harvesting master'!
December 2020
To celebrate the New Year, Akky made the team some mochi! Also known as 'Mochitsuki', this sweet treat is said to bring good luck for the rest of the year. Let's hope it's a good one!
June 2019
Sencha and Hojicha join our Wazuka farm!
February 2023
Many kamakiri (praying mantises) are living amongst the tea fields right now - and we love that! They help to keep pest populations down and the wonderful tea plants to flourish, what could be better than that?
Sencha and Hojicha are preparing for their third ever winter on the farm and are loving the sweet, dewy winter weeds!
December 2022
November 2022
We are working on releasing a second round of our limited edition vegan milk chocolate bar using Akky’s matcha - Christmas is due to be a busy time!
2nd May 2022
This is considered to be the best date for harvesting the leaves for matcha as it is the 88th fortnight from the beginning of spring. As such, Akky spent today working super hard to collect the best leaves for our matcha - legend!
October 2021
The temperature has dropped significantly on the farm so everyone is having to wrap up warm! Luckily, the oncoming cold brings great things, namely the Autumn Harvest. This is one of the busiest and best times of year!