Competitive Grade Teas

All premium grade teas that enter for competitions - whether it is a regional or a national competition - are called Competitive Grade. They are treated with the utmost care from the time they are picked in May (they are all from the very first batch) until the way they are cut and processed, and then stored in the best cool environment to make them just ready by September, the time that all the competitions are held. This five month period is the long-established time frame to process tea, so Competitve Grade teas are the ones that follow the old traditions the most. At the end, they are not only the richest, most delicious teas, but they also look flawless with smoothly cut leaves, very distinct from the ones of regular grades.

The All Japan Competitive Tea Exhibition was cancelled this year, but the regional exhibitions were all held as usual. Teas are listed and evaluated in 5 categories: Sencha, Fukamushicha, Kabusecha, Gyokuro and Tencha. Each tea is scored by professional judges and based on their total scores divided into classes. In one class there might be only one tea or several teas, depending on the given year's result. Teas in the first three classes are the Prize-Winner Teas.