Our Company
| Trade Name | Taga Co.,Ltd. |
| Head Office | 102 Nakagawara Taga-cho, Inugami-gun,Shiga.Japan(Zipcode 522-0355) Phone:(0749)48-0134 Fax:(0749)48-1363 |
| Established | August 22,1967 |
| Capital | 72 million yen |
| Company Representative | Masatomo Yamashita.President |
| Our Business | Producion and sales of SAKE |
About us
We have been making Sake in Taga, the God bless land having famous Taga Taisha shrine since Edo period (1711). We brew our “Taga brand” proudly from the mineral-rich groundwater (hardness: 136) from Suzuka mountains and selected Omi Rice.
Our brewery has won the Gold prize at Japan Sake Awards for 13 times. Also, our “Junmai-shu Taga Aki-no-Uta”, the sake brewed from “Varity: Aki-no-Uta” won the Gold prize at Junmai-shu Grand Prize Award 2016.
We also started exporting sake to countries including UK, Italy, Spain, and Singapore.
Brand transition
The name of our brand has changed over time; we sold “Hatsukoma” brand in Meiji era, “Tairou” in Showa era, and now “Taga”. Recent days, we also have special brands, such as “Taga Aki-no-Uta” and “Biwa-no-Shinryu”.
Our mission
Our mission is to make endless efforts for superior quality of products to make our customers smile.
With rich water from the mountains of Omi (Shiga, Japan) and Omi Rice which it has grown, we will continue to make sake for customers with sincerity and passion.
About Sake
（１）Good quality water for sake
Good quality water is indispensable for making sake. For instance, approximately 80% of sake is composed of water. What is more, not only in fermentation process, but water is also used in washing and soaking rice. In our production, 10 times as much water as rice is used for sake. We use the mineral-rich groundwater from Suzuka mountains to make good quality sake.
（２）We “polish” rice to make sake
Rice contains many kinds of proteins which are divided amino acids and peptides. However, More amino acids in sake lead to heavier taste. Therefore, sake breweries polish off the outer layer of the rice grains which contains more protein than the inner layer. For example, rice-polishing ratio of our Daiginjo-shu is 35%. It means 65% of rice grains are polished off and remaining 35% are used for making sake.
（３）Manufacturing process
The procedure of making sake is shown in the figure below.
Washing rice ➡︎ Soaking ➡︎ Rice Steaming ➡︎ Making koji
➡︎ Fermentation ➡︎ Pressing Sake ➡︎ Aging ➡︎ Bottling
Saccharification (the process in which koji produces sugar from starch) and fermentation (the process in which yeast produces alcohol from sugar) occurs simultaneously in the same tank. This is called parallel multiple fermentation, which is the characteristics in brewing process of sake.
（４）Fermentation
Yeast, which is the main character of alcohol fermentation, makes alcohol from sugar. However, yeast cannot directly produce alcohol from rice starch. When adding koji to mash, starch of rice turns into sugar due to koji enzyme. Then, sugar is converted into alcohol by yeast. Koji and yeast are a strong team in the production of Sake.
（５）Product information
Taga Daiginjo-shu
Daiginjo-shu is brewed from highly polished rice grains. Only 35% of rice grains are used for brewing, and other 65% are polished off. The brewing process proceeds carefully at low temperature spending long time, under the close attention and long efforts of our brewing team. As a result, Daiginjo-shu obtains mellow taste with a brilliant fruity aroma flavor like apples, melons, or bananas. Daiginjo-shu is best served as chilled to enjoy its beautiful aroma.
Junmai-shu Taga Aki-no-Uta
“Junmai-shu Taga Aki-no-Uta” is made only from rice “Varity: Aki-no-Uta”, made in Shiga, Japan. The rice-polishing ratio is 70%. Enjoy the mellow taste in either warm sake (called Kan), cold sake, or on the rock.