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How to divide the grades of black tea? Which grade of black tea tastes good? Tea grade scoring standard

Published: 2026-04-28 Author: World Gafei

Last Updated: 2026/04/28, The popularity of black tea in the world makes it one of the most diversified types of tea, with great differences in taste and quality. Although local and regional handmade styles create unique flavors, each farm usually produces several different levels of its own professional style. This can be confusing because different regions and tea types may use different terms. In India

The popularity of black tea in the world makes it one of the most diversified types of tea, with great differences in taste and quality. Although local and regional handmade styles create unique flavors, each farm usually produces several different levels of its own professional style. This can be confusing because different regions and tea types may use different terms.

In India, Sri Lanka and other tea industries established by the British Empire, there is a complex acronym system to describe the quality of any kind of tea. But these esoteric letter codes are often used inconsistently, and most Chinese tea producers do not recognize them. Compared with the use of these coded tags, it is easier to judge the quality of tea by looking directly at the tea.

Primary leaf

Complete leaves are graded according to their harvest date, of which golden buds are considered to be the best.

Complete tea is the highest of all teas, including black tea. Usually, whole-leaf tea is further classified according to the harvest date, and the tea harvested in early spring is considered to be the best, while the tea harvested at the end of summer is not so precious. This is because spring buds contain more natural sugar than late-harvested mature leaves, so the taste is less likely to be bitter.

Although this standard does not apply to every kind of black tea, it is valuable in both Chinese and Indian tea. In China and India, the tea with tender leaves is called "white tea" or "orange white tea", and the tea with many buds is called "sharp tea".

Broken leaf tea

Broken-leaf tea is a medium-grade tea whose flavor depends on the harvest date and soil.

Broken-leaf tea is the product of whole-leaf tea production, after the selection of the highest grade of tea. Or, especially black tea, the tea may be deliberately chopped or broken to speed up the oxidation process. Broken leaves have a larger surface area and release astringent tannins more quickly.

Like whole-leaf tea, broken-leaf tea can be made from tender buds, mature leaves, or a mixture of both, resulting in varying degrees of bitterness. The golden dried leaves are made from young buds, while black indicates late ripening. Young golden leaves indicate that tea is more naturally sweet, but broken-leaf teas are more often large, bitter, late-harvested leaves.

Tea powder

Broken-leaf tea is rough tea, while tea powder is the smallest particle.

These are the smallest particles of processed tea. Because of their small size, they are mainly used in tea bags. To ensure that only the whole piece of tea is used in the highest grade of tea, the smallest broken tea is screened from higher quality batches. Leaves harvested in the late season may also be crushed for mass production.

Even in small tea gardens that focus on high-quality production, the large harvest of mature leaves in summer brings the maximum number of fans and dust. This means that they usually have more bitterness and astringency, which can be quickly extracted from these small leaves. Fans and powders are usually mixed with spices or herbs, or made with milk and sugar, just like most mass-produced tea bags.

Each category can be further subdivided and graded, but this simple visual difference in leaf size is common in all regions and gives you a good idea of the overall quality of any black tea.

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