Gastronomic Tea Competition
All TMC Tea Pairing competitions
In the TMC Tea Pairing category, participants compete in the skill of creating and serving gastronomic compositions with tea.
During the presentation, the participant must serve and present two compositions to the judges: a Master’s and an Organizers’ ones. Master’s composition can be any (tea is present in the composition in the form of a drink). Organizers’ composition is prepared and served according to the conditions set forth by the organizer of the tournament. The conditions for preparing and serving the Organizers’ composition are communicated to the participants in advance. These conditions may be different at different tournaments.
Judges evaluate each composition (Master’s and Organizers’ ones) separately by the following criteria.
Neatness and Cleanliness. Neatness and cleanliness during performance, neatness in presentation, convenience and safety of composition for degustation.
Appeal. Conceptual and visual appeal of composition, gastronomical intrigue of composition, overall attractiveness of composition.
Presentation. Knowledge of components, accuracy of predicting taste, grasp of potential uses and variants of composition, artistry and appeal of performance.
Taste. Tea and snack harmony, conformance of taste to predictions and expectations, subjective evaluation of taste. Doubled in total score.
Potential. Reproducibility of composition, conceptual development potential, commercial development potential.
Significant details of the Tea Pairing category.
Tea (Camellia sinensis) must be present in the composition in the form of a drink. For example, a composition of orange juice and green tea cookies is not appropriate for the tournament). But at the same time tea can also be part of the snack.
Tea and snack should be served separately. For example, a cookie cannot be served being placed in a cup of tea, it should be served on a separate plate.
Both tea and snacks may be prepared before the start of the performance.
The composition may include flavored tea and tea additives. At the same time, restrictions on the rules for preparing the Organizers’ composition may be introduced by the organizer of each particular tournament.
