Leaf grades

Category

Leaf grades

Teas are divided into the following categories (black teas only):

  • Flowery Orange Pekoe (FOP)

This denotes tea made from the end bud and first two leaves of each new shoot and the term refers to the largest leaves. FOP contains fine, tender, young leaves that have been rolled with a good balance of delicate end pieces of the leaf buds, thereby guaranteeing quality. The word ‘pekoe’ derives from a Chinese word and refers to the covering of tiny silvery hairs on the underside of the leaves of certain types of the tea bush. Apparently, ‘Orange’ comes from Holland’s House of Orange, the royal family of the first European country to import and re-export tea and thus a name connected with the very best quality.

  • Golden Flowery Orange Pekoe (GFOP)

This is FOP with golden tips – the very end of the golden yellow leaf buds.

  • Tippy Golden Flowery Orange Pekoe (TGFOP)

This is FOP with a large proportion of golden tips.

  • Finest Tippy Golden Flowery Orange Pekoe (FTGFOP)

This is exceptionally high-quality FOP.

  • Special Finest Tippy Golden Flowery Orange Pekoe (SFTGFOP)

This is the very best FOP.

  • Orange Pekoe (OP)

Contains long pointed leaves larger than FOP that have been harvested when the end buds open into leaves. Seldom contains tips.

  • Pekoe (P)

This consists of shorter, coarser leaves than OP.

  • Flowery Pekoe (FP)

Flowery Pekoe consists of leaves that have been rolled lengthwise and the pieces are shorter and coarser than OP.

  • Pekoe Souchong (PS)

This consists of shorter, coarser leaves than Pekoe.

  • Souchong (S)

The word Souchong means sub-variety in Chinese, a term associated with large leaves that have been rolled lengthwise to produce ragged, coarse pieces. Souchong is often used for smoked teas from China and Taiwan.

Broken Leaf Grades are divided into the following categories:

  • Golden Flowery Broken Orange Pekoe (GFBOP)
  • Golden Broken Orange Pekoe (GBOP)
  • Tippy Golden Broken Orange Pekoe (TGBOP)
  • Tippy Flowery Broken Orange Pekoe (TFBOP)
  • Tippy Golden Flowery Broken Orange Pekoe (TGFBOP)
  • Flowery Broken Orange Pekoe (FBOP)
  • Broken Orange Pekoe (BOP)
  • Broken Pekoe Souchong (BPS)

Fannings

Also referred to as Fines or Dusts, Fannings are made up of the finest siftings left after the larger whole leaf and broken leaf particles have been removed. They are useful in blends for teabags, which require a quick brewing tea. The numeral I is also added to the broken leaf grades to denote the best quality (e.g. PF I, Dust I). Dusts and Fannings are further categorised as:

  • Orange Fannings (OF)
  • Broken Orange Pekoe Fannings (BOPF)
  • Pekoe Fannings (PF)
  • Broken Pekoe Fannings (BPF)
  • Pekoe Dust (PD)

CTC (Crush, Tear, Curl) teas are generally categorised as follows:

  • Broken Orange Pekoe (BOP)
  • Broken Pekoe (BP)
  • Broken Pekoe I or 2
  • Fannings (F) or (FNGS)
  • Pekoe Dust (PD)
  • Dust (D)
  • Dust 2 (D2)
  • Red Dust (RD)
  • Broken Mixed Fannings (BMF)


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