Everyone loves a nice barista championship, but what if you’re feeling compe-tea-tive? Maybe you want to switch it up with a little winner-take-all cage matcha. Well then, Spirit Tea has just the event for you. Introducing The Silver Chasten, an all-new matcha competition, and the first installation is taking place next month at Night Swim Coffee in Charlotte, North Carolina.
Named after the chasen, the whisk traditionally used to make matcha, The Silver Chasen pits eight teams of two baristas testing their palate, creativity, and skills with matcha. Structured similarly to barista championships, The Silver Chasen requires competitors to undergo three different challenges: the One and One, the Signature, and the Chakabuki.
The One and One is a standard drink preparation round, where each team will be tasked to prepare a single shot of matcha as well as a “oat milk matchatado” (say that five times fast), otherwise known as a matcha cortado, where they will be judged on “cleanliness and workflow, matcha whisking technique, the accuracy of their flavor and texture descriptions, and the quality of their latte art.”
The Signature is a matcha-based signature beverage that will be presented to two mystery judges to score based on flavor, texture, visual appeal, creativity, and consistency. The competitors will also have to create a 4oz version of the drink to serve to spectators, with the crowd favorite earning an extra 10 points.
Finally, the Chakabuki is based on the traditional Japanaese tea tasting game whereby the teams will have to “identify the origin and variety of five green teas over two rounds (first and second steep).”
At the end of the three rounds, the scores will be tallied and the winning team will take home $500 as well as two silver chasen necklaces handmade by artist Alexis Romero.
Registration for The Silver Chasen opened on Friday, May 2nd and costs $40, which covers “the cost of a competitor prep kit, complete with matcha and tea samples, competition rules, and Spirit Tea swag.” Attendance is completely free.
It all gets started Friday, June 6th at Night Swim’s Roastery and Cafe space in Charlotte, North Carolina. For more information, visit Spirit Tea’s official website.
Zac Cadwalader is the managing editor at Sprudge Media Network and a staff writer based in Dallas. Read more Zac Cadwalader on Sprudge.
