Taiwan teas excel at U.K. int'l tea awards with most accolades

London, Nov. 12 (CNA) Tea from Taiwan excelled against competitors from around the world at "The Leafies" international tea awards announced in London on Nov. 6, winning more accolades than any other country.

The Leafies is an annual tea award co-organized by London's prestigious Fortnum & Mason department store and the UK Tea Academy (UKTA).

Taiwan won a total of eight Gold awards and 10 "Highly Recommended" designations across six categories -- four for tea production and two for retail.

The biggest winner of 2024 was Taiwan's Lu Yu Tea Garden from Hualien County, which took home the highly sought-after "Best in Black" award with its Golden Dew tea.

As black tea is the most common brew around the world, the contest for the tea's production was so competitive that The Leafies divided the awards into six regions: China, Taiwan, Japan, India, Sri Lanka and Others.

Although multiple winners for both Gold awards and Highly Recommended production accolades were chosen, only one Best in Black was given out, with Lu Yu taking the crown.

Lu Yu Tea Garden also won one of Taiwan's eight Gold awards.

The company was one of only two Taiwanese tea producers to win gold for black tea production, the other being FormoCha for its Royal Laurel Class Black Tea-241 brew.

"The performance of Taiwanese tea has been outstanding," said Indian judge Kurush Bharucha of Taiwan's black tea. "Traditionally I always knew Taiwanese [as] the best of Oolong teas. But more and more I'm looking at Taiwanese black teas which are competing with the best teas we have in India."

Bharucha compared the quality and flavor notes of Taiwan's black teas to that of Darjeeling, one of the world's most renowned black tea production regions in India, saying that Taiwan's black tea production could soon see international appeal.

In addition to praise from Bharucha, The Leafie's Sri Lankan judge James Suranga Perera also gave Taiwan's black teas high marks.

"I have been judging for the last three years," Perera said, "and unlike previous years, we had many Taiwanese black teas this year. Most of them are really, really of great high quality."

However, Perera also said that he knows little about Taiwan's black tea output. If Taiwan can mass produce its black tea, the nation's brew could be a popular international brew, he added.

FormoCha founder Chang Chia-chi (張家齊) attended the event in person to receive his company' two recognitions on Nov. 6.

Chang had said that FormoCha shares its Gold award with Taiwan's EVA Air company, as his gold-winning Royal Laurel Class Black Tea-241 was created specifically for the airline to serve to business class passengers.

Speaking with CNA, Chang said one of the reasons FormoCha attended The Leafies this year was to encourage Taiwanese youth to return to the countryside and work in the industry by winning an international accolade.

An infusion of young blood into the industry will further strengthen Taiwan's tea culture, Chang said.

Taiwan's tea industry currently faces challenges such as an aging workforce and a shortage of labor, he said. While both factors threaten the future of Taiwan's tea culture, the industry also needs to adopt more creative marketing strategies.

In addition to Lu Yu and FormoCha's Gold awards in the "Black (tea) Taiwan" category, Taiwanese teas also won the same accolade in three other categories.

FormoCha and Bajia Tea Factory both received Gold awards in the "Oolong Heavily Oxidised" category with their Sika Deer Oolong and simple Oolong teas, respectively.

Bajia also won a Gold award for "White Tea" with its simple White Tea brand.

Finally, a Gold award for production was awarded to the Dragon's Breath tea brewed by Wang Family Tea in the "Oolong Lightly Oxidised" category.