What is the meaning of OP BOP FOP acronym in black tea? what is the best level for the international classification of black tea?

When it comes to the grade of black tea, it is usually followed by the name of the producing area, such as OP, BOP, FOP, TGFOP and so on. Friends should be no stranger to this.

Most of these graded terms appear in single-product black tea that is not mixed (meaning different origin, season, or even kinds of tea are mixed together) and made from "Orthodox" traditional black tea system. In the last stage of production, the "grade" grade will be screened by a special screening machine, and the grade of black tea will be distinguished.

Most of the grades are represented by a single capital letter with its own meaning, such as P:Pekoe, O:Orange, B:Broken, F:Flowery, G:Golden, T:Tippy. And so on, connect with each other to form different levels and meanings.

Orange non-orange, Pekoe non-white hair

It seems simple, but with the development of the tea system, the more levels of reproduction, the more complex, the most basic "OP", to the later "SFTGFOP1", such a level, the name is simply too long, Xiaobai thought of dissuading.

There is also the interference caused by misreading and mistranslation in word meaning.

The most basic "OP,Orange Pekoe" is often interpreted or translated as "Orange Bai Hao" or "orange blossom Bai Hao"-in fact, it is very easy to cause car rollover. The early knowledge of black tea has not been widely spread, and in some tea lists, tea packaging and even tea books, the OP grade Orange orange may even be misunderstood as a flavor.

Strictly speaking, although the word "Pekoe" does originate from "Bai Hao" in Chinese tea, it refers to the dense growth of fine hairs on tea buds, but in the actual black tea world, it obviously has nothing to do with "Bai Hao". The word "Orange", originally used to describe the orange color or luster of picked tea, was later used to indicate grade and had nothing to do with oranges.

In addition, in recent years, it has become more and more common to confuse tea grades with tea parts and picking quality. Some even attach tea icons, thinking that "the third leaf is P, the second leaf is OP, and the first leaf is FOP." ".

In fact, according to the results of on-site visits to manors and tea factories, the picking of black tea is based on two leaves of one heart and three leaves at most, and the grade will not really be determined until after the final grade procedure, which represents the size, state and degree of fineness of the tea after screening and grading, regardless of the picking position.

Therefore, instead of literal translation or excessive derivative interpretation, we actually define, distinguish and identify each level of the word itself and the representation meaning after the combination of each other.

Here, the common grades are listed as follows:

A list of black tea grades

OP:Orange Pekoe . Tea with long and complete leaves.

BOP:Broken Orange Pekoe . As the name implies, the finer pieces of OP. It has a strong taste and is generally suitable for brewing milk tea.

BOPF:Broken Orange Pekoe Fannings . It is finer and finer than BOP, and the flavor of brewed milk tea is strong.

FOP:Flowery Orange Pekoe . Black tea with bud leaves and therefore fragrant flowers.

FBOP:Flowery Broken Orange Pekoe . Black tea containing buds and finely chopped tea leaves. The taste is both rich and fragrant.

TGFOP:Tippy Golden Flowery Orange Pekoe . Black tea with more golden buds. The taste and aroma are more clear and melodious.

FTGFOP:Fine Tippy Golden Flowery Orange Pekoe . High-quality tea made from fine kneading and refining.

SFTGFOP:Super Fine Tippy Golden Flowery Orange Pekoe, with the addition of the word "Super", the meaning is self-evident.

In addition to the English alphabet, there are occasional numeric signs, such as SFTGFOP1, FTGFOP1, FOP1, OP1. The number 1 represents the top rank in that rank.

In addition to the above grades, we occasionally see words such as "Fanning" (small tea) and "Dust" (powdered tea). However, in addition to making tea bags, this kind of tea is often used to cook daily milk tea in the market, but it is rare in other countries. Fanning grade tea, the flavor is strong and astringent, mixed with a large amount of milk and sugar, the tough and thick feeling is really addictive.

Suitable materials are suitable and suitable for local use.

There is no absolute relationship between the grade mark of tea and the quality of tea. Although in many cases, the more English letters, the more expensive the price. But it is not inevitable; it is important to pay attention to the producing areas and the characteristics of the tea style, depending on your favorite taste and the method of brewing.

Take Ceylon's UVA black tea as an example, emphasizing its strong aroma. If you want to brew strong and strong milk tea, you have to choose finely broken BOP;, but the grade of large leaves is very rare, and the overall evaluation and even the price are not as high as BOP and BOPF.

Although the grading system of black tea such as SFTGFOP is generally universal, not every producing country and every producing area has such a complex grading. For example, Ceylon tea with broken black tea as the main force is most commonly used for grading from BOP and BOPF to OP and FOP.

In China, the specialty of kungfu black tea is the most prominent, so if the items sold directly from the origin, most of them will not see such a grade.

As for India, although it has the most detailed items in the world, it is interesting to note that if you directly ask the manor to buy tea in Darjeeling, you will find that even if the tea is at the top, the highest price is only FTGFOP1;. As for the foremost S (Super), it is not added by the local auctioneer until it enters the Calcutta auction market.