02/15/2021
Leaf tea grading is a process in the tea industry to evaluate the products based on the quality and condition of the tea leaves used to make them. The sizes of the tea leaves after plucking determines the quality as the smaller tea leaves are more valuable than larger tea leaves. There are various tea grades with the highest tea grade being “orange pekoe” and the lowest being “fannings” or “dust”. The tea grades are used to identify the type and style of the dry leaf. There are various parameters that ultimately determine the tea grade like the size of the leaf, type of tea leaves in the mix, the bloom of the leaves, aroma, taste and the colour of the final brew.
Every type of tea leaf has its own significance. For instance, the whole leaves are known to impart more aromatic flavours. The aroma is stronger when the leaves also consist of buds and tips. The broken leaves and fannings, on the other hand, impart strength to the brew.
“Pekoe” which is the highest grade of tea is also classified further into other tea grades. The further classification is dependent on how many adjacent young leaves were picked. There might be one, two or none of the adjacent leaves picked. The top-most quality of tea grade is the one that has only the leaf buds, that are picked by the fingertips.
The “broken pekoe” tea grades are a reference to the crushed form of tea that is used in teabags. These are the lower grades as they consist of fannings and dust that are sometimes residues of the crushing process.
The grade of the tea is also said to reflect the caffeine content to a large extent as the leaf buds contain more caffeine content than mature tea leaves. The tea grade also affects brewing. Whole leaves require the longest infusion times while fannings and dust infuse the fastest.
The major classification of tea into grades are as — Whole leaf, Broken leaf, Fannings and Dust and then there are further classifications within them.
The various abbreviations are as follows:
W — Whole
F — Flowery/Fine/Fannings
G — Golden
O — Orange
T — Tippy
B — Broken
P — Pekoe
S — Souchong
