Gold Medal Tea Competition Winners

SOUTHAMPTON, Bermuda — The North American Tea Conference annually recognizes producing countries for excellence in tea. The Gold Medal Tea Competition groups entries by country regardless of type.

This is unusual as oolong and green teas, for example, are quite different in characteristics. This is why judges are asked to rate the teas for qualities common to all tea. The judges’ form for example calls for an assessment of appearance (leaf wet, leaf dry) and flavor with a tally for “overall impact” that ignores comparisons of the many intricacies used in judging identical types.

Teas are scored 1-10 with winners named by country. Top prize goes to the tea with the highest score overall. Winners were awarded a trophy at the Chairman’s Dinner, Wednesday, Sept. 25 at the Fairmont Southampton Hotel & Resort.

Listings below are by: Country, Company, Region/Province, Estate, Grade, Production Category/Type.

Top Prize

Bluegate Beverage/Avataa Tea, Udaya Kumar, Nilgiri, India, Billimali Estates Twirl Green Tea, Green

Winners by Country

Argentina

1st Las Trienta SA, Missiones, Urrutia, BOP, Green

2nd Las trienta SA, Missiones, Urrutia, OF, Black

China

1st Shan Shan Tea Co., Zhejiang, Shan Shan Leaf OP, Green

2nd Shan Shan Tea Co., Anhui, Shan Shan Leaf OP, Black

India

1st Bluegate Beverage, Nilgiri, Billimali Estates Twirl Green Tea, Green

2nd Goodricke Group, Castleton Muscatel, FTGFOP1 Darjeeling, Black

Kenya

1st Tea Board of Keya, West Rift Valley Chemoni 664 PF1 Black

2nd Tea Board of Kenya, West of Rift Valley, Kapchorua 659, PF1 Black

Rwanda

1st Sorwathe, Tea Importers, Inc. Kirihira District, Rukeri ,OP Black

2nd Gisovu Tea Co., Karongi District, Gisovu Tea, PFI Black

Sri Lanka

1st Lumbini Tea Factory, Ruhuna, Lumbini, FBOPF Super Extra Special, Black

2nd RTS Holdings, Sabaragamuwa, Sithaka, FBOP, Black

Taiwan

1st Immaculate Leaf, Nantou, Dragon Phoenix Canyon, Shinlin XI Top Grade, Oolong

Dan Bolton Publisher

Dan founded Tea Journey Magazine, the Tea Biz Podcast and Blog, and is a contributing editor at STiR Coffee and Tea. He is also the former editor and publisher of Tea Magazine (2012) World Tea News and the former editor-in-chief at Specialty Coffee Retailer, which was headquartered in San Francisco. Dan has traveled the tea lands, speaking on retail beverage trends in Canada and the United States and at conferences in Europe, China, India, Australia, the Middle East, South America, and Africa.

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