Bottled Premium Green Tea

2008 CHEFSBEST® AWARD FOR BEST TASTE WINNER

Claim Language: The ChefsBest Award for Best Taste is awarded to the brand rated highest overall among leading brands by independent professional chefs.

Gold Peak

What Makes a Great Bottled Premium Green Tea?

Known for its delicious and complex flavors, green tea also has amazing health benefits. Some research has shown that green tea’s powerful antioxidants lower cholesterol and inhibit the growth of cancer cells. While some tea drinkers may find it strong and slightly bitter, it has a taste that really grows on you—especially when it’s sweetened.

Our chefs define high-quality bottled, ready-to-serve, premium, unflavored, sweetened green iced tea as having a yellow to green color range. The low aroma will have a character that’s complex, not simple or one-dimensional. Leafy, grassy, lychee fruit, and earthy notes will contribute to its complexity. There should also be no inappropriate aroma off notes, including packaging notes.

Premium green tea is in taste balance when moderate sweetness is the leading basic taste. The sweetness should not be cloying or overly sweet. Discernible bitterness will follow, and sourness, if present, should be minimal.

The tea should have green tea flavor at a moderate intensity that isn’t too strong. The flavor character should be more complex than the aroma character, but similar leafy, grassy, lychee fruit and earthy notes should carry through. The flavor should not be simple, one-dimensional or have inappropriate notes such as mint, pear or apple. Flavor off notes, coming from poor handling or packaging, should not be detected either.

A low level of astringency, which is when the mouth puckers slightly from a food, is expected in high-quality green tea. The mouth weight should be light and thin, slightly heavier than water, but not be heavy like simple syrup. The finish should be clean without being overly sweet, and a short tea aftertaste should round out the experience.

Product Category Definition

The category judged was defined as bottled, ready-to-serve, premium, unflavored, sweetened green tea for the consumer market, not including regular everyday favorite ready-to-serve tea, tea bags or mixes or hot tea.