Ryutsu Service Co., Ltd.
Location: Kikugawa city, Shizuoka prefecture
Established: 2000
Ryutsu Service’s motto and policy: It is the everlasting theme to constantly develop a healthy lifestyle through tea. Ryutsu service pursues a deep understanding of the essence of Japanese green tea, good quality and safety. And more then anything Ryutsu wants to create new and fascinating tea products! It is a great motivation to see their customers enjoying their tea and products and listen to their experiences and for example their tips and advice.
Ryutsu Services Ltd is a relatively young entrepreneurial tea farmer who only recently started pesticide free farming tea in 2000 in the famously known Shizuoka prefecture. Having prior knowledge of farming but new to Japanese tea, Ryutsu wanted to commit to a sustainable and healthy way of farming and developing new (and organic) green tea. Over the years Ryutsu quickly developed an efficient and environment-friendly tea business and moved forward to create new types of green tea such as GABA Gyokuro, a tea said to help people sleep better and fight stress.
After 14 years in 2014 Ryutsu had built a sustainable and continuously pesticide free soil to cultivate organic green tea and matcha for which they now hold an organic farming, distributing and export certificate. By providing the possibility to distribute and export themselves (through Nosawa Co Ltd) they can reach the consumer easier and for a more reasonable price.
To be able to export high-quality Japanese green tea throughout the world Ryutsu Services conducted many research trips to America and Europe to understand the different rules on organic products. Important topics to tackle were the definitions of pesticide free farming and the usage of contaminants in the nearby area. After their successful research they had developed a product perfected for the Western market. Ever since, Ryutsu Services continues to listen to consumers all over the world to enhance and create the best organic and non-organic Japanese green tea and matcha.
While Shizuoka is a very mountainous region, the open Ryutsu Service’s location is especially blessed with many daylight hours which help grow healthy tea plants to create Matcha and Gyokuro tea.
Ryutsu Services is one of only few cultivators in Japan who can produce organic Matcha and Gyokuro without the use of pesticides on neighbouring fields.
During the winter, frost prevents the steady grow of tea leaves. To fight this problem, Ryutsu Services has an unique cultivation method: parts of the farm are covered with solar power panels who give off warmth in the winter to prevent the tea plants from freezing.
At Ryutsu Services Ltd, matcha is made from “tencha,” which is the traditional Japanese tea ceremony style tea made by grinding with a real stone mill. By using this slow method of milling, it is possible to use 90% of the harvested tea to make tencha.
The procedure to cultivate green tea for matcha is very delicate:
It is essential to cover the tea tree with a black and white net to protect the shoots from sunlight. By covering it, the umami component of tea, the ‘amino acid theanine,’ increases and the astringent ingredient ‘catechin’ decreases.
In order to finish the finest matcha, it is pivotal to rotate the stone mill at low speed. Therefore, only 50g can be produced per hour. Making it a very slow process to make a beautiful product.
When two or three shoots begin to open, the entire tea plantation will be covered with rice straw and the teas continue to be cultivated in the shade. The shading period is about 20 days.
By shading the tea, Catechin, which is an astringent component produced by photosynthesis, is suppressed. And the amount of Theanine, which is a kind of amino acid, is accumulated in tea leaves, resulting in a strong sweet tea with mild astringency.
Sencha is a tea made from sprout tea leaves that are picked from the beginning of May at the so called “88 nights,” and is also called new tea or shincha.
Hojicha is a tea made by roasting sencha at a high temperature of about 200 ° C until it becomes golden brown. By roasting at a high temperature, this tea is characterized by its roasted aroma similar to coffee aroma and has a refreshing taste that is not found in fresh green sencha.
Gaba Gyokuru: 300~600mg in 100g of tea.
Normally, it is contained at least 150mg in 100g of tea.
It is said that GABA Gyokuro helps to improve the quality of sleep and stress reduction. Research is still being performed on this matter.
All natural-No artificial ingredients. 100% pure Japanese green tea.
The so-called Gabaron tea is a Japanese Green Tea which was developed in Japan as a special health tea subjected to a unique manufacturing process. It is most commonly extracted from Sencha tea, however this GABA gyokuro is produced from Gyokuro tea.
By using Gyokuro for GABA tea, this increase the umami taste.
All natural-No artificial ingredients. 100% pure Japanese green tea.
Instead of adding artificial flavor, we are trying to enhance the natural aroma of our tea. This Kaori Sencha Koshun is made of 100% natural green tea. It tastes like a flowery Oolong tea but it’s appearance is similar to green tea. Please enjoy unprecedented aroma and flavor.