Uji Tea Quality Competition
It’s a competition of the tea finishing techniques for great quality tea leaves.
| Goal | To compete and improve the skill of finishing tea leaves to provide a stable supply of excellent Uji Tea to our consumers. It is also to expand sales and demand for Gyokuro green tea, Sencha green tea and Tencha Green tea. This competition will contribute to the business stability of the tea industry. |
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| Entry Qualifications | The Kyoto Tea Cooperative Association Members Only. However, members of The National Federation of Tea Commerce and Industry Cooperative Associations may enter Tencha green tea division. |
| Hosted by | The Kyoto Tea Cooperative Members |
| Supported by | Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries of Japan Kyoto Prefecture The City of Uji The Japan Tea Industry Association The National Federation of Tea Commerce and Industry Cooperative |
| Associations | The Kyoto Tea Industry Association The Kyoto Tea Production Council The Kyoto Headquarters of the National Federation of Agricultural |
| Cooperatives | The Kyoto Tea Trade Stabilization Fund Incorporated Association The Kyoto Midori Association |
National Tea Quality Judging Skills Competition
It’s a competition for participants to evaluate excellent quality teas.
This competition is held every year by the National Federation of Tea Industry Youth Group. The purpose is to improve the skill of judging the quality of tea leaves, and use this skill to legitimize tea trades and increase tea consumption. Each time, tea professionals belonging to the National Federation of Tea Industry Youth Group gather to compete in the "tea judging technique". It is judged by determining the variety, production period, and production area of tea based on taste, aroma, and appearance. There are individual and team competitions based on four stages (out of 40 points). Participants use their sense of sight, smell, touch, taste, and sometimes a sixth sense to compete.
| First Stage |
Tea Variety Identification by Leached Tea (Unfinished Tea) 5 points Determine the variety of tea chosen from five types below. Yutakamidori, Okumidori, Saemidori, Yabukita, Okuyutaka, Meiryoku, and Asanoka. |
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| Second Stage | Judging of the tea production period by appearance (Unfinished tea) 5 points Judging the five production tea seasons by its appearance. (Choose one each of the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd tea, and any two others) |
| Third Stage | Tea Production Area Identification by appearance (Finished tea) 10 points The production area is determined based on the appearance of 10 different types of Sencha green tea provided by each prefecture's tea growers who belong to the National Federation of Tea Industry Youth Group. |
| Fourth Stage | Tea Production Area Identification by appearance (Finished tea) 10 points Determine the production locations of five different leached teas./td> |