Apart from black tea, other teas do not have a universally recognized classification. For the latter, national or regional systems exist. Each kind of tea is then represented by the name of the producing region, number or method of manufacture.
Black Tea
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ORTHODOX METHOD
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- Full Leaves
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FOP |
Flowery Orange Pekoe |
Two sheets (picking fine)
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If there is a lot of Golden tips, as is sometimes the case in Darjeeling, the classification is more accurate. We therefore find over quality FOP, in ascending order of quality: |
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GFOP |
Golden Flowery Orange Pekoe |
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TGFOP |
Tippy Golden Flowery Orange Pekoe |
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TGFOP 1 |
Tippy Golden Flowery Orange Pekoe One |
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FTGFOP |
Finest Tippy Golden Flowery Orange Pekoe |
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FTGFOP 1 |
Finest Tippy Golden Flowery Orange Pekoe One |
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SFTGFOP |
Special Finest Tippy Golden Flowery Orange Pekoe |
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SFTGFOP 1 |
Special Finest Tippy Golden Flowery Orange Pekoe One |
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- Broken Leaves
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BOP |
Broken Orange Pekoe |
Homogeneous and uniform presentation without pieces of flat sheets or poorly fermented
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As for the FOP, if there is a significant presence of buds, note ascending quality |
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BOP 1 |
Broken Orange Pekoe |
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FBOP |
Flowery Broken Orange Pekoe |
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GBOP |
Golden Broken Orange Pekoe |
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GFBOP |
Golden Flowery Broken Orange Pekoe |
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TGBOP |
Tippy Golden Broken Orange Pekoe |
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BP |
Broken Pekoe |
2nd or 3rd sheet. Tea is coarser and darker than the BOP. It generally used for mixtures broken leaves
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BP S |
Broken Pekoe Souchong Very coarse, low quality |
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- Crushed leaves (used almost exclusively for bags)
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F |
Fannings |
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OF |
Orange Fannings |
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PF |
Pekoe Fannings |
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GOF |
Golden Orange Fannings |
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FOF |
Flowery Orange Fannings |
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BOPF |
Broken Orange Pekoe Fannings |
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Dust |
Dust |
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OPD |
Orthodox Pekoe Dust |
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OCD |
Orthodox Churamani Dust |
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BOPD |
Broken Orange Pekoe Dust |
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BOPFD |
Broken Orange Pekoe Fine Dust |
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FD |
Fine Dust |
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DA |
Dust A |
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Spl Dust |
Special Dust |
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G Dust |
Golden Dust |
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OD |
Orthodox Dust |
* For more information, see the "technology" part of this profile.
C.T.C (Crushing, Tearing, Curling) METHOD*
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- Broken Leaves |
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PEK |
Pekoe |
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BP |
Broken Pekoe |
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BOP |
Broken Orange Pekoe |
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BPS |
Broken Pekoe Souchong |
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BP1 |
Broken Pekoe One |
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FP |
Flowery Pekoe |
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- Crushed Leaves |
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OF |
Orange Fannings |
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PF |
Pekoe Fannings |
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PF1 |
Pekoe Fannings One |
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BOPF |
Broken Orange Pekoe Fannings |
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PD |
Pekoe Dust |
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D |
Dust |
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CD |
Churamani Dust |
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PD1 |
Pekoe Dust One |
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D1 |
Dust One |
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CD1 |
Churamani Dust One |
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RD |
Red Dust |
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FD |
Fine Dust |
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SFD |
Super Fine Dust |
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RD1 |
Red Dust One |
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GD |
Golden Dust |
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SRD |
Super Red Dust |
(Source : http://www.admirable-tea.com)
* For more information, see the "technology" part of this profile.
All mixtures and assemblies of tea created to provide a stable quality from one year to the another should be added to these two categories. The most known are:
• English breakfast tea,
• Afternoon tea,
• China tea
• English mixed
• Irish mixed
• Earl grey
.