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What are the different grades of Tea?
- We usually refer to black tea as “orange pekoe” which is simply a grade of tea.
- The following is a list of most of the commonly used grades of tea. Most tea bags contain a Broken Orange Pekoe (BOP).
Orange Pekoe (OP) (pronounced pek-oh) :
The term often used to describe the largest leaf grade for teas from
Sri Lanka and occasionally from the South of India. The term Orange was
derived from the Dutch house of Orange. Pekoe was derived from a
Chinese word meaning white down and refers to the tips of young tea
buds' leaves.
Flowery Orange Pekoe (FOP) : The term used throughout the rest of India to describe the largest tea leaves.
Golden Flowery Orange Pekoe(GFOP) : FOP with golden tips which are the delicate yellow tips of the buds' leaves.
Tippy Golden Flowery Orange Pekoe (TGFOP) : FOP with a larger proportion of golden tips than GFOP.
Finest Tippy Golden Flowery Orange Pekoe ( FTGFOP): Very high quality FOP
Supreme Finest Tippy Golden Flowery Orange Pekoe (SFTGFOP) : Very high quality FOP with lots of golden tips. For Darjeeling teas, the "S" indicates Supreme light coloured liquor.
Broken Orange Pekoe (BOP) : Broken size tea leaves
Broken Orange Pekoe Fannings (BOPF) : Tea fibers that are smaller than BOP leaves and are commonly found in tea bags.
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