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CATA Tea Awards 2006
NORTH AMERICA
CATA Best Tea trophies are awarded to western specialty tea companies who provide top-quality products and help to promote pure, authentic Chinese tea. Judging criteria include value, variety, grade and consistency of teas offered.
CATA judges voting included directors and members John Shi, Richard Prince, Tian Leung, Hau Rong Chen, Sue Long, and Chen Wei.
Awarded companies
do not pay for awards and do not need to be members to win. Companies represented by judges are ineligible.
No cash prizes or cash value is offered.
Best Green Teas: Special Teas
One of the best selections anywhere of the great Chinese green teas (lu cha), including several kinds of long jin (lung ching) style green tea, organic mao feng and specialty selections. A great assortment for customers exploring the range of green teas, including green tea from Wuyi and a very good but reasonably-priced Zehjiang long jin. The organic mao feng is most recommended. http://www.specialteas.com
Best White Teas: Adagio
As tasters of Chinese teas, we tend to be purists. But Adagio won us over with its unusual assortment of
fruit-laced white teas (bai cha), including pear, blueberry, and tangerine, with real fruit. Adagio also has selections of excellent pure white teas, with ratings and reviews. A great Web site to buy tea. The snowbud tea is most recommended. http://www.adagio.com
Best Oolong Teas: Red Blossom
Oolong paradise is Red Blossom. Their Web site has beautiful photos of their teas, and the
oolong teas are divided into the "jade" (folded nugget style) and "amber" (the browner, leafy WuYi style). They also
offer gensing and rose oolongs.
The Jade Kuan Yin oolong, a light-fire ti kwan yin, is most highly recommended. http://redblossomtea.com
Best Black Teas: Rishi
The best selection of black tea (hong cha) we have found is offered by Rishi, a company focused on organic teas and Fair Trade standards. Their unique collection includes a nice Black Peony Rosette, Golden Yunan, and the rare Golden Tips, plus some Ceylon, Darjeeling and English varieties.
The Golden Needle is most highly recommended. http://www.rishi.com
Best Pu'er Teas: Tao of Tea
Tao of Tea has by far the best assortment of dark-fermented teas, including compressed bing cha, pu'er cakes in various sizes and even organic pu'er tea in choices of
leaf age. At display events, this company steals the show with its excellent representation of pu'er. The organic 2003 Classic Bing Cha is most highly recommended. http://www.taooftea.com/
Best Tied Flower Teas: FML Tea
FML Tea Trading Company provides handmade artistic and flavored teas in addition to gourmet Chinese teas. This specialty company offers a great selection of "blooming tea" buds, including a jasmine green-tip bud tied with jasmine and thousand-year flower blossoms.
The #12 Artistic tea is most highly recommended. http://www.fmltea.com
Best Jasmine Teas: The Tea Farm
Jasmine is the only authentic Chinese "additive" that is infused strictly for taste; other flowers and herbs are generally medicinal. While The Tea farm offers other flowers and tisanes, including rose and lavendar, they also offer some of the best jasmine varieties. The Web site allows users to find teas by categories, regions, or caffeine level, The Tea Farm is a great place to
find various kinds of jasmine teas in the Chinese tradition. The jasmine yin zen hao is most highly recommended. http://www.theteafarm.com
Rarest Teas: Seven Cups
One of America's top tea shops, Seven Cups delivers a complete variety of gourmet Chinese teas. Their rare teas are a flawless collection of tea tips, including yellow buds, green bamboo tips, and 2006 Meng Ding Shi Hua organic stone flower and Meng Ding Gan Lu Sweet Dew. The Meng Ding Cui Zhu Green Bamboo tea is most recommended. http://www.sevencups.com
Best Bottled Teas: Honest Tea
Finally, there is iced tea with more flavor than just plain sugar-water. Honest Tea's iced beverages taste very much like their quality tea bags. These lower-sugar beverages are helping to change America's poor drinking habits
with flavor variations of green, ceylon and white teas.
The "Pearfect White" tea is most recommended. http://www.honesttea.com
Best Tea Packages: Mighty Leaf
Mighty Leaf forges on as a leading purveyor of fine Chinese teas. Their tea pouches are transparent, gorgeous and masterfully combined. The Mini-Loose-Sampler box contains four airtight tins beautifully decorated and packaged in
a set. Along with their extensive gift sets and teaware, Mighty Leaf's Web store is a perfect online gift source. The honey orchid Phoenix Bird is most recommended. http://www.mightyleaf.com
Best Tea Bags: Teaforte
Beautiful, amazing and surprisingly durable, Teaforte's teabags remain the single most compelling teabag experience. A perfect gift for
the new tea drinker, Teaforte will pull you in with its fragrant fusion variations of black, green and herbal tea packaged perfectly in twos and in various tins. The Earl Gray Black is most recommended.
http://www.teaforte.com
Contact us to nominate a candidate for the 2007 awards.
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