When it comes to the grading of teas, there seems to be a diverse and cryptic set of grading systems that are used at random by different countries, different regions, even different growers in the same region.
This article attempts to make sense of some of the grading systems out there.
Indian Tea Grades:
One system commonly used in India is the alphanumeric grading system. This is often seen as a string of letters after the tea name such as Darjeeling FTGFOP1. It is the FTGFOP1 variety that we examine here.
Letters are defined by order:
F = Full leaf (not broken)
T = Tippy (with distinctly colored leaf tips)
G = Golden (with golden leaf tips)
F = Flowery (common designation on almost all teas)
O = Orange (common designation on almost all teas)
P = Pekoe (common designation on almost all teas)
1 = 1st grade (an additional, somewhat arbitrary designation)
Other common variations include:
FOP (low grade)
FTGFOPSP (SP = Special grade)
FTGFOP1CL (CL = Clonal variety)
Tags for this page: