Tea Geek Speak

“Leaf tea are those that are made from the buds and unfolded leaves from the freshest growth on the tea plant. If someone said, “I am drinking only ‘TGFOP’ tea, it meaning a ‘Tippy Golden Flowery Orange Pekoe’. This article will help you to know about tea grading and separations. The “CTC” tea is a little bit more straightforward than “Orthodox” teas.

CTC Teas as known as Crush, Tear and Curl Tea or Cut, Tear, Curl Teas;
Which takes fresh and whole tea leaves are run through a series of cylindrical rollers/machines then macerates them (crushing, tearing and curling).
Top of the pile (known as Primary Grades):
1. BP1 = Broken Pekoe 1-
Forms about 12 to 14% of the total production and has the largest size particles. Liquors are light in color but have a strong flavor.
2. PF1 = Pekoe Fannings 1
Form the bulk of the production (about 58 to 60%), it’s made up of black grainy particles slightly smaller than BP1.
3. PD = Pekoe Dust
Forms 10 to 12% of the production, it’s often black and finer than the PF1 with thick liquors and aroma.
4. D1 = Dust 1
Forms about 4 to 6% of the production, it is made up of the smallest particles and characterized by strong liquors.
Bottom of the bunch (known as Secondary Grades) teas:
5. * D = Dust
Made up of tiny bits of broken leaf often used to brew strong tea.
* BMF = Broken Mixed Fannings, also know as ‘Mattress Fiber”
Fibrous bits with very little trace of black teas.

Orthodox Teas,
In Orthodox process, some tea leaves can look very small at the end, the leaves are never cut or torn apart.
1. GFBOP = Golden Flowery Broken Orange Pekoe
2. GBOP = Golden Broken Orange Pekoe
3. BP and OP = Broken Pekoe and Orange Pekoe
4. GFOP = Golden Flowery Orange Pekoe
5. BOP = Broken Orange Pekoe
6. TGBOP = Tippy Golden Broken Orange Pekoe
7. FOP = Flowery Orange Pekoe
8. FBOP = Flowery Broken Orange Pekoe
9. BPS = Broken Pekoe Souchong
10. TGFOP = Tippy Golden Flowery Orange Pekoe
11. OP SUP = Orange Pekoe Superior
12. TIPPY
13. SFTGFOP 1 = Special Finest Tippy Golden Flowery Orange Pekoe 1
14. FTGFOP 1 = Finest Tippy Golden Flowery Orange Pekoe 1

• Pekoe – ‘peck-oh’ or ‘pee-koh’. This chinses term mean “white down” and refers to the character of the young leaves. Pekoe and Orange Pekoe are term for the grade of tea.
• Tippy – 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.
• Orange – doesn’t describe the color of the leaf (that would be strange) but, in fact, refers to the Dutch royal family who were among the first to import tea in to Europe.
• Broken – smaller leaf, or broken “
  
  Reference:
  The Tea Book by Louise Cheadle and Nick Kilby