Competitive Grade Teas

All premium grade teas that enter for competitions - whether regional or national - are referred to as "Competitive Grade". The utmost care that they are treated with starts from the very beginning when they are first picked in May, as all competitive grade teas are always exclusively taken from the very first batch. Their superior treatment continues in the way that they are cut, processed, and then stored in the best cool environments to make them ready just in time for September, the time that all the competitions are held. This five month period is the long-established time frame to process tea, so it can be said that Competitive 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 which are very distinct from the ones of regular grades.

At the All Japan Competitive Tea Exhibition, as well as in regional competitions, 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.