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Continue ShoppingTea Glossary
What is the meaning of all those abbreviations that accompany the tea names?
The abbreviations indicate the production and sifting that differ by the production regions. The gradation of the leaf is only secondary with regards to quality.
Leaf tea
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Orange |
Orange does not refer to the color orange. It means royal quality in reference to the Dutch House of Orange. |
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Pekoe |
A Chinese term meaning "ehite down", referring to the character of the tender young leaves. "Pekoe" and "Orange Pekoe" are terms for the grade of tea. |
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OP |
Orange Pekoe. The main grade of Ceylon and Java, mostly with long, wiry leaves. |
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OP Sup. |
Orange Pekoe Superior. Tippy. Only produced in Indonesia. |
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FOP |
Flowery Orange Pekoe. Plain grade of Indian leaf tea. |
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GFOP |
Golden Flowery Orange Pekoe. The top grade from the only surviving Kenya tea garden that manufactures tippy tea. |
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TGFOP |
Tippy Golden Flowery Orange Pekoe. The main grade of Darjeeling and Assam. |
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FTGFOP1 |
Finest Tippy Golden Flowery Orange Pekoe 1. Mainly from Darjeeling, some from Assam. The finest grade of production, manufactured with exceeding care; even leaves and tippy (having white or golden tips). |
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SFTGFOP |
Special Finest Tippy Golden Flowery Orange Pekoe 1. Superlative grade. |
Broken tea
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Broken |
A smaller leaf, broken or cut. |
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BP |
Broken Pekoe. A brown to black, heavily broken tea from Indonesia, Ceylon and Southern India; often with very wooden, stalky particles. |
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BOP |
Broken Orange Pekoe. The main broken grade of Ceylon, South India, Java and China. |
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GBOP |
Golden Broken Orange Pekoe. The next, second sorting with few tips. |
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FBOP |
Flowery Broken Orange Pekoe. A coarser broken grade with some tips which comes from Assam, Indonesia, China and Bangladesh. In South America, a coarse, black, broken tea. In Southern India "Pekoe" is often called FBOP. |
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GFBOP |
Golden Flowery Broken Orange Pekoe. Produced mainly in Assam. A top-rate tea of the broken grade as well as the only broken tippy from Kenya. Very popular in East Frisian. |
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TGBOP |
Tippy Golden Broken Orange Pekoe. The finest broken grade produced in Darjeeling and Assam. Highly tippy with smooth leaves. |
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BPS |
Broken Pekoe Souchong. Assam and Darjeeling, pearl-shaped leaves. |
CTC processing
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CTC BOP |
CTC Broken Orange Pekoe. CTC = Crushing, Tearing, Curling. CTC production is a shortened production process. Importance is put on a uniform leaf and a quickly colored infusion. |
General
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Fannings |
Small particles of tea leaves, about 1 mm in size, used exclusively in tea bags. |
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Dust |
The smallest grade of tea, used exclusively in tea bags. |
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Tippy/Tip |
The lighter, or golden, tips of the tea (leaf tips of the young, tender tea leaf bud) that do not affect the color in the cup. |
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Extraneous |
The stern and woody stalks of the tea plant that are sometimes processed along with the leaves. |
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CL |
Clonal. Tea leaves plucked from “clones” combining the best features of several tea plants. |
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Infusion |
Tea leaves after brewing. |