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Tea Grading Guide

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Tea Grading Guide

Tea comes in many different shapes, sizes and grades. There are many factors that contribute towards each teas unique liquor profile which then determines the grade of the tea and ultimately the price you pay.

 

Organic and Non-Organic teas are graded in the same way, however at Mr. Tea we choose to focus on certified premium organic loose leaf tea only. You can find out why we choose organic here

 

The below guide is aimed at providing you with a high level view of the different grades of tea to help you understand the different types of quality available.

 

How to Grade Tea (Green & Black)

 

Terms describing the Grading of Black Tea:-

 

Pekoe
Whole leaf black tea produced by a medium plucking of the second leaf on the tea bush. The word Pekoe comes from the Chinese meaning 'white hair' and was originally applied to the early tea plucking, due to the white down on the backs of the young leaf tea. 

Orange Pekoe
Black comprising leaf 8 to 15 millimeters long, which has fewer tips than an FOP. 

Flowery Orange Pekoe
FOP, can be either whole leaf or broken leaf Orthodox black tea with a lot of tip which gives it a finer quality. 

Flowery Pekoe

A whole leaf black tea with the leaf rolled lengthwise. 

Broken Orange Pekoe

BOP, black tea comprising broken segments of somewhat coarser leaf, without tip. Can be applied to both Orthodox and CTC teas. 

Fannings
Small grainy particles of leaf (1 to 1.5 millimeters) sifted out of better grade teas. Fannings will make a liquor that is often as good as that of a whole leaf grade and its grade which applies to both Orthodox and CTC teas. In the Orthodox teas fannings will include broken orange pekoe fannings (BOPF) and golden orange pekoe fannings (GOPF) which describe the amount of tips in a grade. 

Dust
The smallest particle of leaf size in both Orthodox and CTC teas which is normally used for tea bag teas, as they infuse quickly with the full flavor and strength coming through the tea bag material.

 

BLACK TEA:

 

Whole Leaf:

 

P

PEKOE - is a grade of black tea. Derived from Chinese word (pe-ko)  also means "fine feathers"

FP

Flowery Pekoe

OP

Orange Pekoe

FOP

Flowery Orange Pekoe

FOP1

Flowery Orange Pekoe -  First Grade Tea

GFOP

Golden Flowery Orange Pekoe

TGFOP

Tippy Golden Flowery Orange Pekoe

TGFOP1

Tippy Golden Flowery Orange Pekoe - First Grade Black Tea

FTGFOP

Fine Tippy Golden Flowery Orange Pekoe

FTGFOP1

Fine Tippy Golden Flowery Orange Pekoe - First Grade

FTGFOPS

Fine Tippy Golden Flowery Orange Pekoe - Special Grade

 

 

Broken:

BP

Broken Pekoe

BP1

Broken Pekoe First Grade

BPS

Broken Pekoe Souchong

BOP

Broken Orange Pekoe

BOP1

Broken Orange Pekoe First Grade

GFBOP

Golden Flowery Broken Orange Pekoe

GBOP

Golden Broken Orange Pekoe

FBOP

Flowery Broken Orange Pekoe

FBOP1

Flowery Broken Orange Pekoe First Grade Tea

 

Fannings:

OF

Orange  Fannings

BOPF

Broken Orange Pekoe Fannings

FOF

Flowery Orange Fannings

GOF

Golden Orange Fannings

TGOF

Tippy Golden Orange Fannings

BOPFD

Broken Orange Pekoe Fannings Dust

 

Dust:

PD

Pekoe Dust

CD

Churamani Dust

BOPD

Broken Orange Pekoe Dust

BOPFD

Broken Orange Pekoe Fine Dust

FD

Fine Dust

D

Dust

D1

Dust One

Spl. D

Special Dust

GD

Golden Dust

   

 

GREEN TEA

Whole Leaf:

YH

Young Hyson

   

FYH

Fine Young Hyson

 

Broken:

GP

Gun Powder

   

H

Hyson

     

FH

Fine Hyson

 

 

Fannings:

SOUMEE

 

 

 

Dust:

Dust

 

 

 

Other popular green teas

Sencha                                                                  Matcha

Gyokuro                                                            Dragonwell

           

 

 

 

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