Our clients often ask us about the grading system that we use for every one of our teas. The grading system was designed by our Tea-Master Jaesy to help everyone determine the quality of a type of tea leave with one simple glance.
How does it work?
Jaesy goes through each type of tea that we source, and grades them by their quality, roasting skill, taste, smell, and various other criteria. The goal of this grading system is to make purchasing teas a lot easier for everyone, and by differentiating each grade of tea, people will begin to understand the just how deep tea culture goes.
Grade 1
Only the top 20 teas in the world will ever make it to this grade. Such teas are usually purchased by governments to be served to heads of states and official visits. These teas are extremely high in both quality and rarity.
Grade 2
The top 50 teas are classified as Grade 2. Over seven thousand farms compete against one another for these coveted spots, and the time-honed skills and techniques of various tea-farms are evident in these teas.
Grade 3
These are teas that are designed for participation in tournaments, but have not won any awards. Teas of this grade should last a minimum of ten steeps.
Grade 4
This grade contains a mix of tournament grade and teas that are very close to tournament grade quality.
Grade 5
These teas are of extremely high quality, but not designed for tournaments. Teas of these grade all come from award-winning tea roasters.
Grade 6
These teas are all produced by award-winning tea roasters.
Grade 7
These teas are of extremely high quality.
Grade 8
These teas are of high quality, and should last a minimum of three steeps.
Grade 9
These teas are of good quality, but do not have artificial flavorings.
Grade 10
These teas do not have any pesticides or artificial flavorings.
Grade 11
These teas contain some flavors but these flavors may come from artificial flavorings.
Grade 12
Most tea fannings fall into this category. These teas have flavor but contains little nutritional value.
Grade 13
These are teas that are of bad quality and have no nutritional value.
Grade 14
Teas of this category have turned bad, and are not considered drinkable.
Grade 15
Teas that are not drinkable and should not be consumed.
Originally published on April 24th, 2017