tea leaf grades.
There is a long, complicated list of abbreviated jargon to describe the grades of orthodox teas. The grade describes the size of the dried tealeaf and whether it is primarily broken leaf, whole leaf, bud or very young bud. Although the grade does not designate the quality or flavor of the tea, it is assumed that the larger the leaf, the better the tea. When orthodox tea is harvested, generally two leaves and a bud are handpicked from the end of the shoot. A sizable ratio of buds to leaf is also considered desirable.
The first thing to know is that Orange Pekoe (OP) has nothing to do with oranges. It is not a kind of tea, but again, simply describes size. OP refers to long, pointed leaves that have been harvested after the bud is fully open, thus contain no buds, or tips. Pekoe (P), without the orange, refers to shorter leaves than OP. Flowery Orange Pekoe (FOP) is young, tender leaf with some buds. Golden Flowery Orange Pekoe (GFOP) is FOP with golden tips, the yellow ends that characterize the favorable immature young buds harvested early in the growing season. Tippy Golden Flowery Orange Pekoe (TGFOP) means it is abundant with golden tips. This is considered some pretty good tea. The joke we heard is that it stands for Too Good For Ordinary People. But it gets better. There’s Finest Tippy Golden Flowery Onange Pekoe (FTGFOP) that is considered by the estate to be of exceptional quality. Super Finest Golden Flowery Orange Pekoe (SFTGFOP) is regarded as the best of the best. But wait, if they put the number 1 after it (SFTGFOP1), they are putting their reputation on the line to by saying this is the absolute best of the best of the best.
We then get into Broken grade tea. These are smaller pieces than the full leaf descriptions above. There is nothing wrong with the flavor of a broken leaf, it’s just broken. It therefore, produces a stronger, darker cup of tea. Many broken leaves will end up in teabags. If the leaves are broken, they add a B. This scale goes from Broken Pekoe (BP) to Tippy Golden Flowery Broken Orange Pekoe (TGFBOP). The terminology goes on to describe Fannings (F) and Dust (D), which is also referred to as “sweepings,” a term that accurately describes its low stature. These are the tiniest bits of tea that are destined for teabags.
If you have only drunk tea from a tea bag, you don’t know what you’re missing. You can bring your taste experience to the next level with a loose orthodox, leaf grade, tea. For the pure, connoisseur’s experience, try it without the milk, sugar and spices so your tongue can capture the divine subtle flavors. For a superior masala chai without a budget, an organic Assam second flush STGFOP1 tea would be an excellent choice. If you want a taste reminiscent of an authentic Indian street chai, CTC tea or a broken grade orthodox tea will work just fine.
