NEW YORK and CINCINNATI, Aug. 25, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Fourteen high-quality teas took first-place awards in key categories during the North American Tea Championship's (NATC) evaluation of spring-harvest 2015 hot teas. The competition, held July 30 - 31 in Las Vegas, Nev., was hosted by F+W, creator and organizer of the NATC, World Tea Expo and World Tea on the Road. Some of the winning companies will be featured at World Tea Expo (#WorldTeaExpo and #WTE16), June 15 - 17, 2016 at the Las Vegas Convention Center. See TeaChampionship.com and WorldTeaExpo.com.
The North American Championship (#NATC) is the only independent tea competition – evaluated by professional cuppers – to distinguish the highest quality and best tasting teas that are commercially available in the North American marketplace.
During the competition, NATC evaluators reviewed every submission via blind and organoleptic analysis, including dry leaf, brewed flavor, brewed color, brewed aroma, brewed mouth feel and brewed harmony. An overall numerical value on a 100point scale was then calculated based on the ratings of each characteristic, and winning teas were determined by rank.
NATC's Spring Hot Tea Class evaluation first-place winners include the following (Company/Website, Winning Tea Name and Category):
- Aiya America (Aiya-America.com), Matcha Infused Genmaicha – Blended Green
- Garden To Cup Organics (gardentocup.com), Madame Yen Yen – Blended White
- Garden To Cup Organics (gardentocup.com), Vithanakande Estate Private Reserve – Ceylon
- Florapharm Tea-USA L.P. (florapharmteausa.com), Darjeeling Castleton DJ 145 FTGFOP1, Second Flush – Darjeeling
- EASTSIGN INC. (eastsignbio.com), Eastsign Dragonwell – Dragonwell
- Garden To Cup Organics (gardentocup.com), Maui Layover – Flavored Fruit Blend
- Florapharm Tea-USA L.P. (florapharmteausa.com), Eternal Life – Flavored Green
- Alcheme of Tea, LLC (alchemeoftea.com), Orange Appeal – Flavored Herbal Blend
- Garden To Cup Organics (gardentocup.com), Ceremonial Matcha – Matcha
- Osulloc (Amorepacific) (osulloc.com), Sejac – Pan-Fired Green
- EASTSIGN INC. (eastsignbio.com), Eastsign Pu'er Tea – Puer
- Aiya America (Aiya-America.com), Premium Sencha – Sencha
- Aiya America (Aiya-America.com), Premium Gyokuro – Steamed Green
- Glenburn Tea Direct (glenburnteadirect.com), Glenburn Darjeeling Silver Needle – White
A complete list of first-, second- and third-place winners of the Spring Harvest North American Tea Championship is available at TeaChampionship.com. Note: There were two additional NATC spring hot tea categories where no first-place prizes were awarded – Flavored White and Unflavored Herbal. However, each of these categories had second and third place winners.
Honorees will be featured at the North American Tea Championship Winners Tasting Circle at World Tea Expo (WorldTeaExpo.com), June 15 - 17, 2016 at the Las Vegas Convention Center (#WTE16).
