A Sweet, Winning Moment for Point Pleasant Tea Maker

When Point Pleasant Borough resident Mary Ann Rollano started brewing her own iced tea recipe in 2008, she couldn't imagine it would become a nationally-acclaimed brand.

But Rollano's MaryAnna's Summer Sweet Tea is now a national award winner, as judged by industry experts.

Recognizing the best tasting iced teas, the North American Tea Championship (NATC) is shining the spotlight on the most notable, high quality bottled iced teas commercially available in the North American marketplace.

The North American Tea Championship was recently held in Montebello, Calif. at the Wilbur Curtis headquarters, for the evaluation of iced teas. The championship evaluated premium iced teas in the Ready-to-Drink, Food Service and Instant tea categories.

In recognition of its superior evaluation, the World Tea Media presented the First Place North American Tea Championship Award to MaryAnna's Tea LLC for its MaryAnna's Summer Sweet Tea. MaryAnna's Summer Sweet Tea won first place in the Ready-to-Drink - Flavored Black tea category of the 2012 iced tea class.

To choose the recipient of this award, the judging panel of professional cuppers assessed each submission through blind organoleptic analysis of the following characteristics: flavor, body, color, clarity, and balance. The ratings of each characteristic were then used to calculate an overall numerical value on a 100-point scale, and winners were determined by rank.

Rollano said, "It's wonderful to get positive feedback from customers about your tea, but being honored by industry experts brings it to a whole new level.

"A competition like this not only gives us recognition for winning first place in our iced tea category, but it also acknowledges our ability to create the finest bottled iced tea directly brewed from premium tea leaves. I thank the World Tea Media for its efforts in highlighting specialty teas. For a small company like ours to place first among nationally-branded bottled iced teas is a real testament to the quality of our product."

Rollano lives with her husband and two daughters on River Road.

A complete list of first, second and third place winners of the North American Tea Championship is available at http://www.TeaChampionship.com

"Nearly 250 teas were entered into this class of 20 categories and the ratings were close," according to Jie Chen, Competition Manager of the North American Tea Championship. The Iced Tea Class included categories in Ready-to-Drink, Foodservice and Instant.

For information on where to buy the tea locally, click here.

About MaryAnna's Tea LLC

MaryAnna's Tea is micro-brewed and bottled directly, to preserve the natural flavors, nutrients and antioxidant rich properties inherent in tea. The suggested retail price for a 16-ounce bottle is $2.29 and available in three flavors, Summer Sweet Tea (lemon), Berry Sweet Tea (raspberry), and Peachy Sweet Tea (peach) at select natural and specialty food markets. For a detailed list of retailers, more information or to purchase go to: http://www.maryannastea.com or http://www.maryannasteashop.com