Tea Grading
Grading tea was a result of tea producers needing to separate the leaf sizes of black teas as it emerged from the driers. Since all of the mechanics of tea production yield leaf sizes from whole leaf to "dust," it was necessary to grade these products by visual characteristics and separate them. Different leaf sizes brew different looking and tasting end-products; thus a grading system was developed to categorize leaf appearance and facilitate sorting in a standardized way.
Tea is first categorized according to "leaf grades" and "broken grades," which do not imply a quality level, but simply the structure of the leaf. Broken grades are sifted out, leaving the leaf grades, which are whole leaves. Broken leaf grades may have some smaller whole leaves as well, but are primarily broken as the name implies. Leaf and broken grades are further subdivided into more specific categories, the most common of which are:
- Flowery Orange Pekoe: Top most bud leaf.
- Orange Pekoe: Thin wire-like leaf with pale color.
- Pekoe: Leaf grade with deep color.
- Broken Pekoe: Somewhat smaller than leaf grade used to blend with smaller broken grades.
- Broken Orange Pekoe (BOP): Frequently used for blending. Significantly smaller than leaf grades, brews quickly with good strength.
- Fannings: Much smaller than BOP and consequently brews quickly with deep color.
- Dust: True to it's name, brewing quickly, strong in flavor and dark color.
Other sub-classifications exist but are perhaps only relevant for tea graders themselves. The Pekoe (pronounced "peek-o") in the above grades comes from the Chinese work Pak-ho which refers to the fine hair of a newborn infant. The young tea buds which are covered with a light down-like hair thus acquired this designation. The word Orange in Orange Pekoe has nothing to do with the color or flavor, but refers to the princess of Orange, descended from the House of Nassau, and as such, implies a noble quality.
As a general rule, the term "flowery" (as in FOP or "Flowery Orange Pekoe") refers to the top-most leaf of the tea plant, also called the "bud leaf." Orange Pekoe would be the second largest leaf, and Pekoe the third. Since the smallest (and newest) leaf of any tea plant is considered the finest in flavor, it would reason that teas marked FOP are the finest. Unfortunately it is not that simple, and the finest leaves from one plant may not equal the Pekoe leaves from a very good plant. In the end it is the judgment of the tea drinker, and not the grading, that determines the tea quality. Grading will, however, indicate the relative strength of the brewed beverage, but not it's subtlety or overall quality.
Green teas do not adhere to the same grading systems as black teas and are somewhat less standardized. In general green teas are referred to by leaf shape, such as Gunpowder, indicating tight pellet shaped leaf. Once again these designations are not for determining the quality of the tea, but rather for differentiating leaf style and flavor characteristics. Back to Top