Tea is the most consumed beverage in the world after water. But still education plays a vital role in making this wonderful beverage popular. It’s a medium and long term process. Tea industry is far behind it’s biggest revelry coffee when it comes to education. We are in an era when baristas are expected to make a perfect cup of tea, not the tea master. But things are changing a bit now. Organizations like European Speciality Tea Association (ESTA), Australian Tea Masters and Tea and Herbal Association of Canada, etc are doing a great job to educate the world community on tea. By the mean time, in a time when there is no proper definition for “Speciality Tea”, ESTA has created a new definition to describe speciality tea better.
Aspiring to attain excellence in all aspects of tea processing and brewing from the bush to the cup
European Speciality Tea Association (ESTA)
European Speciality Tea Association (ESTA) values the science and art of tea making at every level. We value the skill, dedication and care which has been applied to create delicate and unique hand-crafted teas which can be categorized as speciality tea.
We support the speciality tea industry in all aspects of tea production from bush to cup and recognise the farmers who are aspiring to attain excellence.
We also value the following factors which we believe help contribute to being able to distinguish speciality teas from commodity teas. These can include but are not limited to:
The known supplier, the known farm, the known location, the known production dates, the known processing method.
Speciality tea can also be defined by the quality of the five criteria below:
- The dry leaf
- The aroma of the dry leaf
- The colour and clarity of the liquor
- The flavour and mouthfeel of the liquor
- The appearance and aroma of the wet leaf
We believe that the consumer needs to be inspired from the moment they enjoy the aroma, liquor and taste of the tea and can celebrate in the plant’s personality, the origin of the tea, the care that has been taken in the processing and brewing of it; this being a speciality moment.
European Speciality Tea Association joins in growing an inspirational community, supporting the movement which promotes speciality tea and improving the quality of tea consumed. Speciality tea exists through the dedication of people at all levels of the tea value chain. We respect and support the person plucking the leaves, the person producing the tea to the consumer brewing the tea. Each person who touches the tea until it is finally sipped can affect the final cup and our aim is to support this and share knowledge that will improve the tea industry.
European Specialty Tea Association strives to value, support and promote the people who have this dedication and who are involved and passionate in providing perfection in every cup.
We value all of the above when considering what is speciality tea and we welcome like-minded people and or affiliates to join us in our quest for tea excellence at every level.
We are a dynamic organisation, we are aspirational for speciality tea, and we aim to have a positive impact on the wellbeing of all sectors of the tea industry.
ESTA executive director Mr. David Veal mentioned the document is closer to a description. “We acknowledge that it will be difficult if not impossible to achieve a definition universally agreed by all in the specialty tea community, so we have described our approach rather than dictate a definition, in the hope that most people will agree with most of its content. However, we acknowledge, and indeed hope, that this document will encourage an ongoing debate and therefore continue to promote speciality tea into the future.”
Mr. Nigel Melican, president of ESTA, said: “We all like to put things tidily into boxes: to define them. But ‘specialty tea’ in its infinite uniqueness likes to defy definition. ESTA has endeavoured to encapsulate the spirit of specialty tea as ‘aspiring to attain excellence…from the bush to the cup.’ For me, this comes very close to defining the indefinable.”
The European Speciality Tea Association
European Speciality Tea Association is an inclusive organisation whose mission is to create and inspire excellence in the speciality tea community through innovation, research, education and communication.
With members from over 28 countries representing all parts of the tea supply chain from producers to tea baristas, European Speciality Tea Association is helping to generate a vibrant speciality tea community across the world and is dedicated to promoting great quality tea in all of its forms to create a new sensory excitement amongst tea drinkers. You can join by emailing us at
Become A Member of ESTA
- Membership Options: https://specialityteaeurope.com/membership
- For Producers: https://specialityteaeurope.com/producers
