|
 Black
teas, especially those from India and Sri Lanka are
graded by quality of the tea leaf itself. Orange Pekoe
(pronounced pek'-oh) is actually a grading term meaning whole leaves
of uniform size, and does not refer to a type of tea.
"Orange" has nothing to do with the color of the leaf or the
prepared tea. It isn't known for certain, but it may derive
from a from a reference to the Dutch House of Orange, indicating
higher quality. The higher grades of tea are used for loose
whole leaf teas. Once those higher quality leaves are sold,
the bottom grades called fannings (very small,
flat, broken pieces of leaf) and dust (very tiny bits or
sweepings of tea) are often sold for use in teabags. These
grades oversteep in a very short time producing a bitter and overly
astringent cup. That's why we only sell loose leaf
tea.
The grading system used includes the following terms,
starting with the highest grade:
-
Special
Fine/Fancy Tippy Golden Flowery Orange Pekoe
(SFTGFOP)
-
Fine/Fancy Tippy Golden Flowery Orange Pekoe
(FTGFOP)
-
Tippy Golden Flowery Orange Pekoe
(TGFOP)
-
Golden Flowery Orange Pekoe
(GFOP)
-
àFlowery Orange Pekoe
(FOP)
-
Orange Pekoe (OP)
-
Pekoe
(P)
-
Souchong
(S)
-
Broken
Grades
-
Fannings
-
Dust
The general
rule is that the higher proportion of leaves having golden tips of
new leaf buds, the more highly regarded the tea.
Exceptional qualities are anything containing a certain
proportion of golden tips, FOP or above.
Souchongs are larger broader leaves nearer the
bottom of the stems and are often used for China smoked teas.
And to confuse things even further,
there are corresponding broken grades of leaf such as Broken
Orange Pekoe (BOP) or Broken Flowery Orange Pekoe
(BFOP).
Green
tea is less rigidly graded, but again the grading refers to the leaf
and not the prepared tea. You will see such terms as Gunpowder
(including delineations such as pinhead and superior), Imperial,
Young Hy-son, Hy-son, Twankay, Hy-son skin, and dust used in grading
of Chinese teas. Japanese terms include Extra Choisest,
Choisest, Choice, Fine, and on down to fannings and dust.
Oolong
grades actually refer to the quality of the prepared drink, and not
the leaf. The terms range
from Finest to Choice, Fine, Superior, Good, and Standard, with
many in between. More important than looking for a grade in
Oolongs, which doesn't often appear on packaging, is to look for one
produced in Taiwan where the best Oolongs
originate.
Copyright all pages 2004-2008, Wild Orchid Teas. All
rights
reserved. |
