Overview

The North American Tea Championship is an independent competition, judged by professional cuppers, to distinguish the highest quality & best tasting teas commercially available in the North American marketplace.

The Tea Championship is made up of two classes: Hot Tea and Iced Tea. The Hot Tea Class is evaluated twice a year: July for spring teas and February for fall teas. The Iced Tea Class is evaluated once a year in May.

Winners of the Tea Championship are announced after each respective evaluation, personally and in the press release.  Winning companies receive a formal announcement letter that includes the tea’s rating and ranking as well as a print-ready seal that can be used for all promotional materials and packaging.

Winning companies also have an opportunity to showcase their teas at the annual World Tea Expo, the premier trade event for the industry, as well as the regional event, World Tea East, in both North American Tea Championship Tasting Winners’ Circle if exhibiting.

North American Tea Championship Hot Tea Class

Spring harvested teas as well as herbal tisanes and blends are evaluated in July and fall harvested teas as well as Rooibos blends are evaluated in February.

The evaluation panel, non-entrants, are professional cuppers and include representatives from the following companies: G.S. Haly Company; Jane Pettigrew; Peet’s Coffee & Tea; The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf; Walker Tea.

Each submission into the class is evaluated blind and through organoleptic analysis of the following characteristics: dry leaf, brewed color, brewed aroma, brewed flavor, brewed mouth‐feel, and brewed harmony. An overall numerical value on a 100‐point scale is then calculated based on the ratings of each characteristic above. First, second and third place winning teas are determined by rank.

North American Tea ChampionshipIced Tea Class

The Iced Tea Class is divided into categories according to its market application and sales channels: Foodservice and Ready-to-Drink iced teas. Each category is then separated into sub-categories to represent popular products currently being sold in the marketplace.

The Iced Tea Class is evaluated once a year in May. The evaluation panel consists of retail buyers in the respective categories.

Each submission into the class is evaluated blind and through organoleptic analysis of the following characteristics: flavor, body, color, clarity, and balance. An overall numerical value on a 100‐point scale is then calculated based on the ratings of each characteristic above. First, second and third place winning teas are determined by rank.