MERU TEA: FOR THE NOVICE, CASUAL CONNOISSEUR, WINE ENTHUSIAST, TEA MASTER
Black Tea Grading System
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| BLACK TEA LEAF GRADES AND DISTINCTIONS: | |
| The two main grades of black tea are "leaf" and "broken". These categories are subdivided into "Souchong" and "Pekoe", the second defining the majority of loose leaf Black teas. Pekoe is the top selection of leaves (the panicle) and usually contains the leaf buds. Souchong describes leaves which are further down on the plant and are generally used in bagged and blended teas. Each name and its subdivisions describe the particular qualities of the leaf in a particular tea: its size, the plucking, which part of the leaf, color, texture, and where the tea ranks in that plantation's harvest quality. | |
| S | SUPER (Best leaf grade) |
| F | FINE A fine plucking/superior quality tea-- attention has been paid to which leaves were picked. |
| T | TIPPY |
| G | GOLDEN Refers to the leaf/bud colour. Buds have a lighter colour (golden) than leaves, so a Golden tea contains more leaf buds. |
| FOP | FLOWERY ORANGE PEKOE "Flowery" refers to the leaf bud -- no actual flowers are are in the picking. Describes a tea with more tips (panicles) and fewer leaves from further down the branch. |
| OP BOP |
ORANGE PEKOE/BROKEN ORANGE PEKOE "Orange" or Broken Orange Pekoes, are teas of the Pekoe variety. Orange is not a colour, but describes the leaf size. Orange leaves are the larger leaves on a Fine plucking. |
| 1 | FIRST GRADE This numeral is added to the end of a description to designate the best grade of this type of tea from this plantation. This can also appear as GR1, GR2, etc. Grades can also be applied to Green and other varieties of tea in addition to the Green Tea grading system. |
| FL | FLUSH Occasionally teas are listed with the flush as part of the description code (FL1, FL2). "Flush" is the seasonality of the tea. A First Flush tea would identify it as the season's first pluckings, Depending on the type of tea, first or second flushes are usually preferred for flavor. Second flush is a good choice for Assams, as the leaves make a bolder, rounder cup. Flushes are also used in grading Green and other varieties of tea. |