Ever wonder what Orange Pekoe means? Well, its a grade of tea (and has nothing to do with oranges!) Your supermarket black teas are typically pekoe or orange pekoe - short broken leaves. Our black teas are 3 to 4 grades higher, usually Golden Flowery or Tippy Golden Flowery Orange Pekoes - longer whole-leaf teas with buds and tips! GRADES OF TEA Tea grading is based on the size of the leaf and types of leaves included in the tea. Though leaf size is an important quality factor, it is not, by itself, a guarantee of quality. Teas are often designated as OP or FOP. These designations are part of the grading system used for whole leaf black teas and refer to the leaf size and amount of tip in the tea. Pekoe means teas picked as 2 leaves & a bud. OP, or Orange Pekoe, is a full-leaf tea with no tip or buds. FOP, or Flowery Orange Pekoe, is a longer leaf than an OP and has some buds. Grading systems and terminology vary with tea type and country. Generally, the more whole the leaf is and the more buds it contains, the higher the grade of tea. BLACK TEA LEAF GRADES Pekoe - smaller, shorter leave than OP Orange Pekoe - long, thin, tightly rolled leaves Flowery Orange Pekoe - longer leaf than an OP but not as tightly rolled Golden Flowery Orange Pekoe - FOP with some golden tips Tippy Golden Flowery Orange Pekoe - GFOP with more golden tips Finest Tippy Golden Flowery Orange Pekoe - Better quality TGFOP teas Broken Orange Pekoe - OP leaves that are broken Flowery Broken Orange Pekoe - FOP leaves that are broken - (from the Frontier Co-Op Website) Etsy/shop/LeesTeas
Posted on: Fri, 01 Nov 2013 19:02:53 +0000
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