The first level screening of teas for the 11th edition of The Golden Leaf India Awards: Southern Tea Competition (TGLIA) was held at the United Planters Association of Southern India (UPASI) in Coonoor on Saturday.
A five-member panel of judges comprising K.M.Angelos of Tata Global Beverages, Anindya Ray of Hindustan Unilever, Nimish B. Parikh of J.Thomas, A.Noor Mohamed of Paramount Tea Marketing, and Soman M. of Forbes, Ewart and Figgis, representing major tea packers, exporters and leading brokers evaluated the entries.
Convener of the organizing committee was V.Unnikrishnan.
As many as 141 entries were received from 51 estates and companies for this year’s competition. The process of selecting the best teas from various agro-climatic regions was based on a multi-layer screening process using a scoring system that captured various quality attributes of tea such as dry leaf appearance, infused or spent leaf appearance, liquor attributes such as colour, aroma, briskness and strength in an objective manner. The teas getting through will be screened for pesticide residue parameters and heavy metals in the National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratories (NABL) accredited laboratory of UPASI Tea Research Foundation.
The final tasting session will be held in April 2015 in one of the upcountry markets along with buyer-seller meet.
