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Glossary of Tea
Grades
Terms describing the grading of black tea
Pekoe
- a whole leaf black tea produced by a medium plucking
of the second leaf on the tea bush. The word Pekoe came
from the Chinese meaning 'white hair' and was originally
applied to early tea pluckings, due to the white down
on the backs of the young tea leaf.
Broken
Orange Pekoe - BOP black tea comprising smaller
leaves and broken segments with an abundance of tips.
Can be applied to both Orthodox and CTC teas.
Broken Pekoe – full-bodied
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 (1-1.5mm) sifted out of better grade teas. Fannings
will produce a liquor that is often as good as that of
a whole leaf grade – it is a 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.
Flowery Orange Pekoe - can
be either whole leaf or broken leaf orthodox black tea
with a lot of tip, which gives the tea its finer quality.
Flowery Pekoe - a whole
leaf black tea with the leaf rolled lengthwise.
Orange Pekoe - black tea comprising
leaf 8 to 15 millimetres long, which has fewer tips than
an FOP.
Dust - the
smallest particle of leaf size in both orthodox and CTC
teas, which is normally used for tea bags, as they infuse
quickly with the full flavour and strength coming through
the tea bag material. |
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