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INTERNATIONAL TEA AWARDS

The Leafies are the first and only dedicated tea awards in the UK.

We promote excellence in the tea industry and foster international collaboration between producers and buyers.

Find the full list of 2023 winners below.

Details for 2024 will be shared soon. Check here or on The Leafies Instagram for updates.

The Leafies are proud to partner with

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The Leafies were launched by the UK Tea Academy in collaboration with Fortnum & Mason. Now in our third year, we have established a reputation for upholding integrity, credibility, and prestige in the tea industry.

We provide global exposure to primary tea producers. A selection of winning teas, are made available at the Rare Tea Counter in Fortnum & Mason’s flagship London store.

Click here for judging highlights at Fortnum & Mason

AWARD-WINNERS 2023

Yame Tea Kumaen – Gyokuro Saemidori

Ocha-no-Kajihara – Koshun Kamairicha Spring 2023

Jantle Group – Ya Shi Xlang

Zen Zen Thé – Red Oolong Tea

Zealong Tea Estate – Aromatic Oolong

Glenburn Fine Tea – Darjeeling Moonshine

Rujani Tea – Tippy Reserve

Lumbini Tea Valley – Sinharaja Wiry Tips

Kagoshima Horiguchi Seicha/Wakoen – Kakuhori Benifuuki Black Tea

Furukawa Seicha – Asahi & Ujihikari

Long He Tea Company – The King of White Peony

Suzuki Seicha – White Tea

Atelier Sueyoshi Seicha – Furusatonohana Saemidori

Maikonocha Honpo – High Grade JAS Certified Organic Handpicked Sencha Loose Leaf Tea

Suzuki Seicha – Premium Roasted Green Tea

Camelia Unipessoal Lda – Kintsugi Cha

Guang Cheng Xian Gu Tea Company – Guang Cheng Xian Gu Xiang Yang High Fragrant Tea, Green Tea

Toba Wangi Indonesia – Redolent Green Tea

Jantle Group – Feng Huang Shui Xian

CHENGPION Tea House – Creamy Jinxuan Oolong Tea

Wang Family Tea – Lóngfèng Xiá Oolong

Amba Tea Estate – AMBA Uva Oolong

PT Harendong Green Farm – Organic Sukui Oolong Rolled

Wuyishan Jun de Tea Co – Qian Fang Jing Ping

Jay Shree – Darjeeling Turzum Basant Blossom

Jay Shree – Assam Nahorhabi Golden Tips

Mansimble Tea & Estate – Kangra Tea

Tea Studio – Nilgiri Orchid

Amba tea Estate – Amba Tippy Golden Orange Pekoe

Panilkanda Tea Factory – Panilkanda FBOPF EXSP 1

Kahawatte Plantations – Endane Special BOP 1

Talawakelle DESSFORD Estate – BOP

Sashimacha Yoshida Tea Farm – Izumi 2023 2nd Flush

Ocha-no-Sakaguchien – Natsubeni

Wang Family Tea – Hon Yun Black Tea

Nepal Tea Collective – Rose Label Reserve

Lochan Tea – Doke Black Fusion

Glenburn – Masala Chai

Zealong – Aged Oolong

Chaki Co. – Chaki Matcha

Yame Tea Kumaen – Matcha Saemidori

Forest Hill Tea (Pvt) Ltd – Vanilla Tea Rod

Lumbini Tea Valley – GOLDEN BREAKFAST TEA

RETAIL GOLD

Chaki Co – Chaki Gyokuro

Dorothy’s Teas – Shannon Estate Silver Needles

Chaki Co – All About Ujicha

RETAIL HIGHLY COMMENDED

Matsushita Tea Garden – Black Tea

Gryphon – Bullseye

The White Heron Tea & Gifts – Lavender & Vanilla White Tea

FUTURE OF TEA: Saitama Prefectural Sayama Technical High School, Japan

GAIA: Jersey Fine Tea, Channel Islands

PIONEER: Beatriz Piñeiro Lago, Tsubaki Diseno, Spain

MAVERICK: PT Harendong, Java Island, Indonesia

TEA FOR LIFE: Amba Tea Estate, Sri Lanka

UKTA LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT: Zealong Tea Estate, New Zealand

FORTNUM & MASON BEST IN SHOW: Yame Tea Kumaen, Gyokuro Saemidori

The International Tea Awards: The Leafies, are proud to be in partnership with

BRITA
Brewed by Hand
Bredemeijer

*New region refers to region that has no tradition of growing tea and the garden has not been producing tea commercially for more than five years.

WHITE

1WC China
1WO Other regions
1WN New region

GREEN STEAMED

2GSC China
2GSJ Japan (including Hojicha)
2GSO Other regions
2GSN New region

GREEN PANNED

3GPRC China
3GPRJ Japan
3GPRO Other regions
3GPRN New region

YELLOW

4YC China
4YO Other regions

OOLONG

5OCLO China Lightly Oxidised
5OCHO China Heavily Oxidised
5OFLO Formosa Lightly Oxidised
5OFHO Formosa Heavily Oxidised
5OOLO Other Regions Lightly Oxidised
5OOHO Other Regions Heavily Oxidised
5ONLO New Region Lightly Oxidised
5ONHO New Region Heavily Oxidised

BLACK

6BC China
6BI India
6BSL Sri Lanka
6BJ Japan
6BF Formosa
6BO Other regions
6BN New region

CHAI

7CLS Chai loose leaf and spice

JASMINE

8JA Jasmine All

DARK TEAS (INCLUDING PUER)

9DTO Age over 5 years (raw/sheng)
9DTU Age under 5 years (raw/sheng)
9DTC Cooked/Shu

POWDERED TEAS

10PTM Matcha
10PTO Other teas

SCENTED TEAS

11STW White scented
11STG Green scented
11STO Oolong scented
11STB Black scented

EXPERIMENTAL TEAS

12EXP All

New for 2023 and open to all retailers who want to enter their most popular teas which are readily available online or instore.

The winning retail teas will not be part of the selection for Fortnum & Mason, however, they will excite interest and generate media coverage in the consumer Lifestyle and Food & Drink press.

BESTSELLERS

13BSBB The BRITA Breakfast Blend Award: unscented black tea blend in the traditional style

13BSEG Earl Grey: either in the traditional style scented with natural bergamot oil or a reinvention using other natural ingredients

13BSG Green Tea: pure or blended green teas

13BSO Oolong Tea: pure or blended oolong teas

13BSW White Tea: pure or blended white teas

13BSB Black Tea: pure or blended black teas

13BSWB Wellness Blend: marketed as a blend that may have a beneficial purpose (eg to aid digestion) but needs to include some Camellia sinensis

13BSHB House Blend: can be a scented blend but must include some Camellia sinensis

13BSRTD Ready to Drink (kombucha, iced tea, cold brews, nitro tea etc)

These Special Awards are dedicated to celebrating the achievements behind the tea. The recipients will be chosen by the judges from the entrants to The Leafies who will not necessarily have won an award for their tea. Each award represents an outstanding commitment to initiatives such as community empowerment, environmental stewardship, innovation, creativity, and education.

The Leafies entry form has a dedicated section for entrants to outline their key initiatives.

TEA FOR LIFE AWARD

The award for the tea farm/estate/garden demonstrating community empowerment, economic regeneration and/or uplifting the welfare of the people dependent on the tea farm/estate/garden for their livelihood.

PIONEER AWARD

For an exciting new garden/region/producer demonstrating imagination and innovation in tea cultivation and/or manufacture.

GAIA AWARD

For those putting sustainability at the heart of the farm/estate/garden and demonstrating outstanding environmental stewardship.

MAVERICK TEA AWARD

For the bold, brave, creative tea producers developing successful experimental teas that don’t fall neatly into any category.

UKTA LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD

One of The Leafies highest accolades for an estate or individual who is well established, highly respected and has made a significant contribution to the advancement of tea knowledge and appreciation. It embodies the qualities of all the other Special Awards, demonstrating a long term commitment to pioneering tea culture,  community initiatives and a tireless dedication to environmental regeneration.

FORTNUM & MASON BEST IN SHOW AWARD

The ultimate tea award chosen from among all the category Gold winners.  This is one of the highest scoring teas of the whole week and is voted on by all the judges as the most outstanding tea of The Leafies that year. The tea will generally win on its quality and flavour, but the story behind the teas will also be available to the judges, so in the event of close contenders, this may also have some bearing on their decision. The tea that wins Best in Show will be available to buy from the Fortnum & Mason Rare Tea Counter at their flagship London store.

FAQs

The Leafies is open to any tea organisation around the world. From farmers and tea makers to tea suppliers and retailers, there is a category for all.

The Leafies showcase carefully crafted teas which bring out the complexities of the leaf and the unique flavours of the terroir.

  • Only loose leaf, no teabags
  • A minimum 50g of leaf for each tea.  If already prepackaged in slightly larger quantities that is acceptable to save repacking.
  • Leaves can be processed in a traditional, artisan style or using modern mechanical techniques designed for high grade teas
  • Contain only natural ingredients
  • Available for worldwide purchase online, even if only in small quantities

Online entries are not yet open for The Leafies 2024.

Details of where to send the teas will be in these FAQs Where do I send my tea?

You will need some basic information about your company, such as the address and the contact details of the person handling your entry for The Leafies.

You will need to select the correct award category for the tea you are entering.

There is an opportunity to provide specific brewing parameters for the tea/s, the harvest date and brief processing details of your tea, but this is not obligatory and does not have to be in much detail.

You will also have the option to share a short overview of the story behind your tea business.

And you can upload a photograph that represents your tea or your tea business such as the farm, your community, your team or even your packaging.

Finally you need the details of the bank card you are using to pay for your entry.

You can see all the questions in the Entry Form + some guidance in the line below this.

The cost per tea will be confirmed once entries for 2024 are open. On one entry form, you can enter as many teas as you like in the same or different categories.

For a small extra fee per tea you can add the feedback service. This will ensure you receive the average scores on each judging criterion as well as the judges comments.

The Special Awards are chosen by the judges, based on details submitted as part of the entry form.

Get in touch with jo@teaacademyawards.com if you need help with your entry.

The 2024 Awards are not yet open to receive entries.

The deadline for completing the online Entry Form is yet to be confirmed but is likely to be in September.  

The deadline for receiving teas is yet to be confirmed.  We notify you once we have received your tea.

The address to send teas will be confirmed once the entries are open for 2024.

You should send your teas with a tracking option. The Leafies are not responsible for any teas that do not arrive.

Please ensure that postage includes tracking as we cannot take responsibility for any missing entries.

Print and complete this form to send alongside your teas.

Send 50g of each tea carefully sealed and packed in protective outer packaging. If you have a pre-packed retail carton holding more than 50g, you can submit that to save repacking.

Each tea entered must be individually labelled with the following information securely attached or printed on the pack

  • Name of the organisation that is entering the tea (eg farm/estate/retailer/supplier/wholesaler etc)
  • Name of the tea
  • The Leafies Category Name and Number for which you are entering the tea
  • Ingredients list (if not pure Camellia sinensis ie any blends and RTD)
  • Brewing guidelines (optional)

Yes. When we have received your tea, we will notify you via the email you entered in your Entry Form.

One Gold is awarded in each category for truly exceptional tea. However, if the judges decide that none of the entries achieve a Gold standard in that category, there may not be a Gold award.

There is no fixed number or limit to the number of Highly Commended awards.The judges will determine the number of Highly Commended awards based on the scores.

  • Gold Award winners receive The Leafies Gold Award Trophy.
  • Highly Commended winners receive The Leafies Award Certificate in their category.
  • All winners receive The Leafies award-winning Gold/Highly Commended retail stickers.
  • Winners have the right to use The Leafies award-winning Gold or Highly Commended marque on their website and in their marketing collateral.
  • A selection of Gold Award winners from single origin categories will be sold at London’s Fortnum & Mason on the Rare Tea Counter.
  • Winning teas will be highlighted in a global tea-focused market with worldwide promotional and networking opportunities.
  • Some of the teas will be included in the UK Tea Academy (UKTA) training courses, the UK’s leading professional tea educational body.
  • All winners have their names and background stories published on the UKTA website, broadcast in social media posts and in on-going marketing.
  • Retail winners, blends and flavoured teas will not be among the selection for the Fortnum & Mason’s Rare Tea Counter which is specifically for small invoices of artisan tea production. We will however deliver a focused marketing campaign to generate exposure for the winning teas in the consumer press.

Details for The Leafies 2024 Awards Ceremony will be confirmed through social media posts. Follow The Leafies on instagram and sign up to the UK Tea Academy newsletter for updates on all aspects of The Leafies.

  • The Awards Ceremony will be held several weeks after the judging to give enough time for winners to attend in person or to find a representative to accept the award on their behalf.
  • The winners can offer tastings of their winning teas at the ceremony. Places will be limited. We will discuss with the winners once the judging is complete and they have been notified.
  • The event is a unique opportunity to bring producers, retailers, hospitality professionals and tea buyers together.
  • The ticket price is discounted for entrants to The Leafies.

Date and venue to be confirmed for 2024     

A full list of questions can be viewed here. 

Expert Judges

Meet our distinguished, international panel of judges comprising highly regarded tea professionals and educators.

Ottilie Cunningham, Tea Buyer, Fortnum & Mason
Ottilie Cunningham

Tea Buyer, Fortnum & Mason

Ottilie fell into the world of tea after picking up a discarded copy of The Times on a train, where she spotted an ad for Trainee Tea Buyer at Twinings. Since then, Ottilie has spent the past 18 years in the tea trade and experienced every part of the tea value chain along the way, from grower to producer to retailer, working for brands such as Twinings, Finlays and Fortnum & Mason. As Tea Buyer at F&M, Ottilie is responsible for selecting the finest and most rare teas from across the globe for the iconic luxury retailer.

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Juyan Webster

UKTA Tea Tutor, China

Juyan grow up in Zhejiang, China – one of the most important provinces for green tea production and worked with her parents in the family-run tea garden from a young age. In 2002, Juyan came to the UK for study and noticed that there was lack of premium quality teas in the market. So she started The Chinese Tea Company in London in 2010 after finishing the university. Since then she has traveled extensively visiting the tea gardens in China and meeting farmers to purchase the premium teas and learn her tea knowledge from the masters. She leads tea trips to China and hosts courses and private tastings and corporate events in London. She also teaches the Tea Sommelier Chinese tea module and Chinese Tea Masterclass.

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Jane Pettigrew

UKTA Director of Studies

Jane Pettigrew is one of the best-known and most highly respected professionals in the tea world. She has worked as a writer and educator for over 35 years and is tirelessly committed to sharing her knowledge of tea and improving the standards of tea service. She teaches tea masterclasses all over the world and has written 17 books on tea.

In 2014 she was voted Best Tea Educator at World Tea Awards, World Tea Expo, and in January 2016 was awarded the British Empire Medal for services to Tea Production and Tea History in the UK’s New Year Honours list.

Jane’s latest book, Jane Pettigrew’s World of Tea was awarded Best New Product (Publications and Books category) at World Tea Expo 2018 and Best Tea Publication at World Tea Awards, World Tea Expo 2019.

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Chau-Jean Lin

UKTA Tea Tutor, Taiwan

Dr Lin teaches our Taiwanese Tea Masterclass. She started Marulin in London to share teas from her family farm in Taiwan – specialists in Taiwanese Oolong tea.

Marulin’s most recent development has been blending oolong teas in tea bags and creating new tea powders that go beyond matcha.

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James Suranga Perera

UKTA Tea Tutor, Sri Lanka

Suranga has had over 20 years’ experience working at the centre of the tea trade in Sri Lanka and possesses an in-depth understanding of the tea and the industry. He worked as a Tea Broker in the Sri Lankan Tea industry for over 20 years. Starting at Forbes and Walker, he then became Vice President of Asia Siyaka Commodity Brokers, before being moving to Ceylon Tea Brokers PLC, where he was appointed COO and then CEO. During this time, he also served on the Sri Lanka Tea Board Tasting Panel representing the Broker community and was a Board Director for the Colombo Brokers Association. He represented the Colombo Brokers Association at the Colombo Tea Traders Association(CTTA) as the Tea Convenor for Tea Brokers and was a member of the initial panel appointed by the Sri Lanka Tea Board to carry out a feasibility study into the E-auction system, which is now in place. Suranga moved to the UK in 2017 and is now a consultant, entrepreneur and tutor on Ceylon tea for the UKTA.

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Asako Steward

UKTA Tea Tutor, Japan

Asako was born and educated in Japan and is a qualified Tea Instructor for both black and green tea in Japan. She lived and worked in London for more than 20 years teaching her own British tea and culture courses and also teaching at UK Tea Academy. From 2018 she has run the Tea Academy Japan in Tokyo and Kyoto as a Director. She is also a Japanese Tea Ambassador and Kakegawa Tea Ambassador, and hosts many seminars and lectures to introduce Japanese tea to U.K. and Europe. Asako has visited many tea gardens in the world and learned about black, green, white, oolong and fermented teas and published 5 books about tea in Japan. She is also a specialist judge for tea at the Great Taste Awards.

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Sam Kimmins

UKTA Tea Tutor

Sam has decades of experience as a professional Tea Blender and Buyer and has frequently shared her expertise on TV and radio. She teaches Tea Champion modules.

TIM D'OFFAY PORTRAIT
Timothy D’Offay

Founder of Postcard Teas, London

Thirty years ago while living in Kyoto, Tim became fascinated by tea culture and started to explore the tea traditions of East Asia. This led him to start importing tea in the late 1990s and to found Postcard Teas in 2005 which works exclusively with small farms across Asia. He has also written several books on tea which have been translated into several languages.

Giando
Giandomenico Scanu

Tea Master, The Ritz Hotel, London

I grew up in Sardinia, working in my father’s bar, where I picked up an interest for blending as blended our coffee beans. I moved to London and started working at the Ritz where I grew curious for tea. After a short course and a trip to Sri Lanka, I enrolled for a tea master course and started travelling to different countries where they grew tea.

I have been the Tea Master of the Ritz London for more than 10 years and I’m in charge of choosing the beautiful teas that we serve to our guests in our famous afternoon tea lounge.

profile image of Kurush Bharucha
Kurush Bharucha

Tea Expertise Director at Lipton Teas and Infusions

Having spent 39 years in the industry, Kurush leads a large global cadre of the company’s specialist tea tasters across 15 countries and is required to protect, nurture, grow and sharpen this skill base. His mantra for his team is to taste, taste, and taste, or as he puts it: ‘Practice makes perfect; so perfect your practice’. He firmly believes that the best way to learn about tea is to taste it. Originally from India, Kurush’s first 20 years there included roles in buying, blending, quality, product development, speciality tea, exports and imports. He then moved to Dubai, spending 8 years in servicing a multitude of regional markets across Africa, Asia and The Middle East in a Tea Procurement, Quality and Supply Chain capacity. The last 10 years have seen him based in the UK, located at the company’s Global Innovation Centre in Bedfordshire where his roles encompass both recipe design and deploy; infusing passion, instilling belief, building capability, and championing a tea culture. As he confesses, ‘Tea is much more than what I do; it is who I am’…..And by a strange quirk of serendipity, even his family name (Bharucha) ends in cha!

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Alex Probyn

UKTA Tea Tutor and Founder of Blends For Friends

Alex trained as a Master Tea Blender at Tetley and now has over 20 years experience as a tasting expert. He started his own company, Blends For Friends in 2006. Alex runs several UKTA Masterclasses on blending and tasting, both online and at the Blends For Friends blendatorium in Kent.

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Bryony Osmond

Master Blender - Twinings

Bryony entered the world of tea after finding a role advertised at Twinings for a Trainee buyer whilst searching for a sales position at the company for a friend. During the past fifteen years, Bryony has experienced all areas of global tea buying, spending considerable time at the origins and understanding the intricacies of the supply chain; from the field through to blend development and retailer interaction.

Bryony has spent the last five years deep diving into herbs buying and is now the lead in sourcing new herbal materials for Twinings globally. She is passionate about spreading tea and herbal knowledge across the business and has been fortunate enough to travel widely to host international Masterclasses as well as helping to train the next generation of Master Tea Buyers.

Terms & Conditions

  1. The Leafies are open to tea farmers, tea estates, suppliers, retailers and organisations producing or handling high quality loose leaf tea and blends.
  2. Entrant’s teas should be available to buy internationally, even if only in small quantities.
  3. Entrants should complete an entry form for the tea(s) entered into The Leafies. You can enter multiple teas and multiple categories in one entry form. Teas sent in without a corresponding completed entry form will not be accepted.
  4. A fee of £65.00 per tea is required to enter your tea into The Leafies. Entrants can select multiple categories, the total cost will be calculated at the end of the form where payments are taken. If your payment does not work for any reason, we will be in touch.
  5. An additional feedback service is offered at a cost of £25.00 per tea. Entrants who pay to receive feedback will be sent the average score from all the judges on each criterion. Any judges comments on individual teas will also be included as part of the feedback.
  6. Entrant’s who do not choose the feedback service on the entry form, can apply after the judging has taken place, however the feedback may only comprise the average scores for each criterion, it may not include any judges comments. The fee of £25.00 per tea will still apply.
  7. All the teas will be prepared by the UKTA’s professional brew team and tasted using professional tea-tasting equipment. Entrants can provide brewing parameters for their teas in a specific section of the entry form. We will endeavour to respect the brewing parameters.
  8. Entrants are responsible for providing the correct amount of tea (50g) and packaging it carefully so that it is not damaged in transit. The UKTA on behalf of The Leafies is not responsible for any teas that arrive damaged.
  9. Entrants are responsible for labelling their teas clearly and correctly with the information specified in the FAQs, ‘How to Enter’ section of this webpage. Entrants sending multiple teas must label teas separately with the required details.
  10. One Gold will be awarded per category where there is a tea the judges consider outstanding. The number of teas awarded Highly Commended is at the discretion of the judges.
  11. Teas will be judged on taste. If there are several teas at Gold level, information such as the farming process and the story behind the tea may be taken into account in the judging criteria.
  12. Information on the winning teas such as the background story and any photographs included in the entry form, may be used by The UK Tea Academy for The Leafies marketing materials.
  13. Your participation in The Leafies means that we will have access to the personal data you supply, e.g. your name and email address, and other data which you submit in relation to your participation in our event. The UKTA will only share data with our sponsorship partners. As a condition of entry, you accept that we have access to and will store your personal data which is relevant for the use of our system and the events you participate in.