"Best tea in the world"... WHAT!!?

As a self-described ignorant tea-lover, I don't know whether there is an official organization that rates teas the way you describe. However, I believe that trying to rate the "best" of tea (or just about anything else, for that matter) is subjective. Best for what? Flavor? Aroma? Anti-oxidants? The first two are definitely subjective, and the third is too variable to be of use.

Look at it another way: what is the best wine? The one that wins the most awards? Again, simply too subjective to mean anything.

Like you, I'm interested in hearing whether there is any formal rating system/organization.

Alan

It's highly subjective when it comes to any "best" statements, but the best places to start are the tea auctions held each year for any respective variety. $3,000 a kilo for Darjeeling, $1,500+ for Tieguanyin, and I have seen Gyokuro's going for those ranges as well (~ $2,000 per kilo). When a particular tea sparks a bidding war that lasts and lasts, there is normally a reason.

Sometimes the most expensive aren't always the "best" either. That's why I put little faith in the most expensive = best idea. Just as with anything There is a clear difference between the lowest/cheap stuff and the better/expensive tea, but after a certain point it becomes subjective and other factors end up determining the value.

Just as with wine, there is no "best" but there are many super expensive ones, many amazing wines, and Arbor Mist.

Taiwan is big on tea competitions, and the winners and runner ups are normally as close to "the best" as you will find. Just like the many awards given to wines they are normally a good indicator of quality but still subjective.

Each individual type of tea branches out in an endless sea of sub- types and even then each particular region could be a life's work of devotion. I have no problem admitting I haven't even scratched the surface of the dust on top of the surface of tea. I love learning and growing with it every day though, and have come quite far in my own journey with no end in sight.

- Dominic

Dominic's answer is right to the point. Tea auctions and competitions (mainly for Taiwanese oolongs and much less for pu-erhs) can give a good indication what the informed market regards as the best tea (of a given type) for that year (or season). Unfortunately, this tea is often not readily available to the average customer. That temporary aspect is very important. Tea being a natural product (and tea masters being humans), each batch will turn out differently. Just as a tea garden in Darjeeling might produce one batch that takes the crown for the year, it might not perform very well the following year. It might also produce rather average tea throughout the "common grades" (i.e. the stuff regular people can buy through vendors). And after all, if you're drinking the tea, the judgement lies in your hands. For example, I had a customer ask me for MY personal favorite tea and I told him (IMO a very good Darjeeling First Flush). He tried it and it turned out that he prefers his teas fuller and opted for a different tea. (I like an ethereal character in a Darjeeling, but it's not everyone's cup of tea, so to speak) If you're getting into pu-erh, though, it gets really fuzzy. Suddenly, it's not only the quality of the original cake, but also storage conditions, etc. that have to be taken into account. The same tea (i.e. the same recipe and vintage), just stored differently, can be much better (or worse) than other cakes of that production.

I think it's safe to say that there are good teas and bad teas, but to pick "the best" out of the good teas is impossible.

Alan

Right. Now, see, I don't like gyokuro. So, if I ran the tea grading service, you'd see very low prices on the gyokuro. I really like the Fujian black teas, most of which are very inexpensive, so you would see much higher prices on those.

Aren't you glad I don't run the world's tea grading service?

But, there are outfits like Wine Spectator that make their money by grading and evaluating wine. There's nothing like that for tea, which is a good thing. It's a good thing, because I thing reviewing services like Wine Spectator are too prone to jumping on the latest popular thing and ignoring quality products that are currently unfashionable.

--scott

I take your point, but I can also see another way of looking at this. Let's assume that you and I are as discerning, and as immune to herd thinking, as we think we are. Then isn't it to our advantage if all the stupid money gets spent in the same place(s)? That way there's so much delicious tea left over at reasonable prices.

/Lew

Actually, if you could get into the tea grading service ASAP I'd be eternally grateful to get some great Gyokuro without spending in excess of $150 any day! Maybe make sure you don't have a taste for BLC and ShuiXian too while you're at it :)

I actually have a cool idea for a tea site that's been kicking around my hard drive lately but development time has been lacking lately. Way different than something like Wine Spectator, and much more user driven which would make it very useful I think.

- Dominic