Tinkerdreams:
1) When you order tea on the web, brands are important.
2) However, the grade of tea is more often the main point.
3) We like GFOP or higher.
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Tea Grades: A Short Primer -
These black tea grades are somewhat subjective and can vary from region to region. A couple of things to note: Pekoe is pronounced peck-oh, and there is no orange flavouring in any of these teas. Pekoe is not a floavor, but a grade (don't try to figure it out, just believe). For the most part, the more intitials, the better the tea quality.
Fine Tippy Golden Flowery Orange Pekoe (FTGFOP)
. . . extremely high quality TGFOP.
Tippy Golden Flowery Orange Pekoe (TGFOP)
. . . similar to GFOP
. . . with an even higher proportion of golden tips
Golden Flowery Orange Pekoe (GFOP)
. . . a higher quality tea
. . . includes the golden tips of the young buds leaves.
Flowery Orange Pekoe (FOP)
. . . similar to OP
. . . used for teas
. . . from the rest of India or other regions.
Orange Pekoe (OP)
. . . A good quality tea
. . . consisting of large leaf pieces
. . . used for teas from Sri Lanka or south India
Broken Orange Pekoe (BOP) Tea
. . . many small or broken pieces of leaves
. . . frequently used in restaurants
Fannings / Dust
. . . iny bits and pieces
. . . usually leftovers from processing
. . . commonly found in tea bags