Loose Leaf Tea and Grading
May 31st, 2010 by admin | no comments
Have you ever wondered about all those fancy letters that follow tea names? Or worse yet, have you tried to pronounce them? Here are some common examples and what those letters mean. It all has to do with the grading of the tea leaf…
Whole Leaf Grades and Broken Grades:
FTGFOP1: (Finest Tippy Golden Flowery Orange Pekoe First Grade Leaves) Used mostly in Darjeeling and in some parts of Assam. The leaves are the finest and superior grade that requires special care and attention when processing. Leaves are uniform and tippy.
SFTGFOP1: (Special Finest Tippy Golden Flower Orange Pekoe First Grade Leaves)
TGFOP1/TGFOP: (Tippy Golden Flowery Orange Pekoe First Grade Leaves/Tippy Golden Flowery Orange Pekoe.)
GFOP1: (Golden Flowery Orange Pekoe First Grade Leaves). This is the top grade designated to teas grown in Kenya (Milima or Marinyn plantations).
FOP/FOP1: (Flowery Orange Pekoe/Flowery Orange Pekoe First Grade Leaves). 2nd grade used in Assam, Dooars and Bangladesh, and is the top grade in China. The leaves are long with only a few tips.
OP: (Orange Pekoe). Largest grade of black tea with long and wiry, unbroken leaves.
P: (Pekoe). The largest, unbroken leaf size or grade to describe teas processed in Ceylon and India.
BOP: (Broken Orange Pekoe). A size or grade of broken black tea leaf. Frequently, BOP grade tends to be stronger than whole leaf grades.
BP: (Broken Pekoe). A size or grade of broken black tea leaf. Frequently, BOP grade tends to be stronger than whole leaf grades.
BPS: (Broken Pekoe Souchong). Of the broken tea grades, this encompasses the smaller pieces of the broken black tea leaves. Frequently, broken grades tend to produce a stronger cup than whole leaf.
TGFBOP1: (Tippy Golden Flowery Broken Orange Pekoe First Grade Leaves). Finest broken First grade leaves in Darjeeling and some parts of Assam. Leaves are uniform in size and have lots of tips.
GFBOP1: (Golden Flowery Broken Orange Pekoe First Grade Leaves). Usually describes the top broken grade of black teas of Assam and is the only broken tippy tea from Kenya.
GBOP: (Golden Broken Orange Pekoe). Second grade, leaves with varying in size, few if any tips.
FBOP.FEXS: (Flowery Broken Orange Pekoe. Finest Extra Silvery.) Ceylon.