2009 Spring TKY Competition (Pt 2)
After getting the tea samples ready and delivering them to the Mucha Farmer’s Association offices (see Part I), it was simply a matter of hanging out while the judges made their decision.
I was quite excited about getting to watch my first real tea competition, but the reality of it was, it was kind of like watching paint dry. The judges are in an enclosed area, with the numbered samples laid out in front of them (the samples are randomly assigned numbers, so contestants and judges have no idea which tea is whose). They meassure out the samples and steep the tea for judging. The standard sampling is 3g of tea in 150cc of water, steeped for 6 minutes.
WARNING: SHAMELESS PRODUCT PLUG APPROACHING!!!!!!!
If you’re interested in getting the competition mug/bowl set (or ceramic testing spoon) send me an email - I’m going to have them available for sale very soon. (That wasn’t too bad, was it? Now back to the competition).
The judges walk up and down the line, checking out the teas (dry leaf,
aroma, color, taste, wet leaf). They will then place the mugs in position indicating their standing - closer to the edge of the table means a poor sample, next to the bowl means still considering, and towards the 
middle of the table means a superior sample. The judges go back and forth, discussing amongst themselves and eliminating/regrouping as they go. Then they bring out the next batch and start over (for a total of about 300 samples, they spend most of the day sipping tea and spitting it back out again).
For awarding prizes, they have 4 basic levels. Any teas that pass a level are winners. If a tea is considered below grade, it is disqualified in the initial round. Standards are set for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place teas, determined before the contest based on the crop quality and growing conditions of the season. So, for
example, if last year’s crop was not very good (maybe too hot, or too wet, etc.), the quality of the 2008 1st place teas might not be as good as the 2009 2nd (or 3rd) place teas from this year (assuming this year’s growing conditions were much better, which they were, by the way). If they didn’t do it this way, they could potentially end up with every tea in a good year being 1st place, or in a bad year being 3rd place.
The importance of placing teas relative to the yearly crop is also related to pricing. The association sets the retail prices for the winning teas based on yearly conditions, which helps prevent price gouging. The association bags & seals the winning teas before returning them to the vendors. If someone feels they’ve overpaid for a tea, they can check the serial number with the Association and determine the placing/pricing of their tea.
So, while they may end up with 10-20 samples in the 1st place category, the real prize is the ‘tou deng’ (top tea) and ‘te deng’ (special tea) awards, which go to the best of the best teas (there is only 1 ‘te deng’ award, which is the best 1st-place tea, and is therefore sold for a much higher price).
Aliang ended up with 3-4 3rd place samples (out of 12 submitted). I was going to do a special report on them as a follow-up to this one, but when I got back to the shop that evening to buy a few cans for myself, he was already sold out - a regular customer of his had come in while he was unloading his Landrover, and bought all of it. Damn! (I’ve now left standing orders with him to always save me 1200g (2 jing) of any competition teas he produces.