A few leaf qualities

Tea leaf grading is a method of classifying and identifying tea leaves. It is used for black tea, especially from India (such as Darjeeling, Assam and Nilgiri) and Sri Lanka (sometimes referred to as Ceylon in tea circles).

These classifications help to understand how the tea leaves have been processed after harvesting, but do not say much about the flavor quality itself. In very simple terms, the smaller the leaves, the more letters there are. And since an earlier harvest means more work (per kilo of tea leaves), it usually leads to a higher price.

Orthodox or CTC?

  • Orthodox Traditional method in which the leaves are rolled, preserving the whole leaf structure.
  • CTC (Crush, Tear, Curl) Mechanical method that crushes, tears and rolls the leaves, resulting in small, round pieces.

Terms

There are a number of words used in this system.

  • Pekoe Refers to leaf shoots/buds, and specifically their white fuzz. The term comes from pak-ho, which is now written "bai mao" (白毛), "white (thin) hair"
  • Orange has nothing to do with the flavor, but probably comes from the Dutch royal family, the House of Orange.
  • Tippy means it is with (many) leaf shoots.
  • Golden is sought after and means that the leaf shoots are "golden brown", differing in color and taste from the rest of the tea leaves
  • F (Fannings, roughly "flakes"):Smaller leaf fragments often used to make tea bags.
  • D (Dust, literally "dust"): The finest particles often used in tea bags for a quick and strong brew

Grading System for Orthodox Teas

Whole Leaf

  • OP (Orange Pekoe): Narrow and long whole leaves.
  • FOP (Flowery Orange Pekoe): Contains young, opened leaves and some leaf shoots.
  • GFOP (Golden Flowery Orange Pekoe): Same as FOP, but with more golden leaf shoots
  • TGFOP (Tippy Golden Flowery Orange Pekoe): Contains a large amount of golden leaf shoots
  • FTGFOP (Finest Tippy Golden Flowery Orange Pekoe): Even finer version of TGFOP, even more golden leaf shoots.
  • SFTGFOP (Super Finest Tippy Golden Flowery Orange Pekoe): Considered the 'finest' quality in this category with the maximum number of leaf shoots.

Broken leaves

  • BOPF (Broken Orange Pekoe Fannings): Leaves broken into very small pieces
  • BOP (Broken Orange Pekoe): Broken leaves.
  • FBOP (Flowery Broken Orange Pekoe): Contains broken leaves with some leaf shoots.
  • GFBOP (Golden Flowery Broken Orange Pekoe): Broken leaves with a larger amount of golden leaf shoots.
  • TGBOP (Tippy Golden Broken Orange Pekoe): Even finer version of GFBOP with many golden leaf shoots.
  • FTGBOP (Finest Tippy Golden Broken Orange Pekoe): The finest quality of the broken leaves with the maximum number of golden leaf shoots.

There are a number of other designations, but these are the most common. Sometimes a number follows the designation. The number 1 indicates that the plantation manager considers this to be an exceptional quality