Tea Importer Scores High in Ground Breaking Tea Competition

The first ever WTC is being held inLas Vegas, May 30th at the 2008 World Tea Expo, the largest trade only tea exposition inNorth America. This bold, innovative competition is changing the face of tea as we know it, benefiting consumers and the industry as a whole.

Based on the World Tea Rating (WTR), a proprietary scoring system that involves a number of evaluation criteria considered by a panel of esteemed judges, the competition included over two hundred entries from 30 top tea companies. A preliminary blind tasting was held by judges to select the top five finalists in each of the 25 categories. Those five tea finalists will be judged live during the WTC. "The fact that we have six of our ten entries in the finals is very exciting," says Beth Johnston, Founder and CEO of Teas Etc. "Even more exciting is the fact that all but one of our finalists are house blends and four are organic," she continues. "We have two tea finalists in the Black Tea Blended and Flavored category and two in the Herbal Blend category, which means we have a good chance of winning a top spot. The four entries that did not make the finals all received honorable mention, achieving high positions within the rating system."

The rating system is similar to that used in the wine industry and will give buyers, both wholesale and retail, a guide to identifying teas and companies that are selling high quality products. The WTR is based on brew color, brewed aroma, brewed flavor, brewed mouth feel and brewed harmony.

"To be honest I was not prepared for the competition," Johnston goes on to say. "With the late harvests inChina this year, even though I was there, I was unable to get my favorite teas back in time to submit them into the competition. I also felt strongly that it was important to participate in WTC, not only because I know how great our teas and herbs are but also to support this groundbreaking competition that is really going to shake things up in the industry. We decided to submit some house blends and flavored teas which took me out of my usual comfort zone," Johnston continued, "you can only imagine my surprise when we got the results!"

    Finalists
    Organic Lemon Ginger - Green Tea Blended and Flavored
    Organic Mint Fusion - Black Tea Blended and Flavored
    Cirtus Berry - Black Tea Blended and Flavored
    Ginseng Oolong - Oolong Blended and Flavored
    Organic Cold Comfort - Herbal Chamomile
    Organic Chamomile Lavender - Herbal Chamomile

All finalists will be published in the World Tea Buyers Guide available to attendees at the World Tea Expo.

SOURCE Teas Etc Inc

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Copyright © 2008, NewsBlaze, Daily News

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