Alex Yurong Pan is representing Australia in the Tea Masters Cup International in South Korea.
The 2016 competition, taking place from 9 to 10 June at the Tea World Festival in Seoul, celebrates tea preparation, tea pairing and tea tasting.
Alex won the Australia and New Zealand Tea Masters Cup on 15 May at Melbourne’s Meat Market building.
The Melbourne competition brought together an even mix of competitors: three tea professionals, one tea enthusiast, three baristas, and one restaurateur.
The event was scored over three rounds, just like the international event. First, competitors were given 15 minutes to demonstrate their brewing skills with two teas – a master tea of the competitor’s choosing, and a tea provided by the organisers. This categegory tests the competitor’s technique in brewing, presentation, knowledge, and equipment.
Next was the tea pairing round. In this category, contestants showed their skill in pairing food items with a complimenting tea. Here, the judges look for neatness, visual appeal, taste, presentation, reproducibility, modifiability and time.
Competition winner Alex went with the savoury flavours of duck paired with a cup of the classic Lapsang Souchong.
The final part of the competition was a “Guess the Tea” round, where competitors had to identify single varieties of tea and multi-component beverages only from their leaf and liquor.
Impala and Peacock’s Ruan de Witt was named the winner of the Brewing Round and Mary Jane Hua won the Tea Pairing round.
The winner of the Tea Guessing category, and overall winner with the highest score was Alex.
He will now compete against other national winners from countries including Belarus, Korea, Latvia, Poland, Russia, Ukraine, Vietnam, France, Italy, and Check Republic.
The World Champion Tea Master will be named on 10 June.
To livestream the competition from 11am Seoul time, click here: teamasterscup.com
In 2017 the Australian International Tea Expo is joining forces with the Melbourne International Coffe Expo, taking place right next door to the Grand Pavilion. Presented by Australian Tea Masters, the event will host premium tea suppliers and related products.
For more information visit australianteaexpo.com.au
Image credit: Australian Tea Masters Association. Alex, event winner, is second from left.