On packages with tea a variety of information is indicated, which must be understood in order not to buy something "left".
Country of origin of tea:
Only a country that grows tea (India, Ceylon, China, etc.) can be written here. So, if it is written that it is produced in Lithuania, then it is a deception.
Shelf life:
Most reputable companies indicate the date of manufacture and the expiration date of the tea on the packaging. Tea is usually stored for 1-2 years. However, the fresher the tea, the better it retains its aroma, taste and healing properties.
Weight:
Packages of 50, 100, 250, 500 grams are traditional for Russia.
Abbreviation lettering:
Ortodox or STS marking.
Tea, which was rolled by hand during the production process, and therefore minimally damaged the leaves, is called "Ortodox tea". Hand-picked teas are also often labeled "classic" - classic. This is also an indicator of the high quality of the tea.
Tea made using machine technology is labeled "CTC" (cuts, tears, curls).
"Pure" or "Blended" marking.
The "Pure" label is usually placed on quality varietal teas with their own unique aroma and flavor characteristics. For example, elite Assams or Darjeelings can be "clean". If the pack is "Pure", then it contains one type of tea, unmixed with other varieties.
Blended indicates a tea blend (blend) consisting of several different teas. Usually, blends consist of two or three varieties of tea, where one or two varieties of tea are of low quality (often ordinary small-leaved African, Ceylon or Indian teas), and one variety is of a higher quality, which makes the taste and aroma properties of the blend acceptable to the consumer. There are also high quality blends (for example, "Irish Breakfast" or "Russian Caravan"), where quality varieties are mixed in order to obtain unique taste or aroma characteristics.
There are various abbreviations indicated on the packages.
Leaf teas:
FOP (flowery orange pekoe) - high quality large leaf tea with a large number of tips (tea buds).
OP (orange pekoe) - orange pekoe - high quality large leaf tea, tea from the top most juicy leaves, rich in taste, color and aroma
FP (flowery pekoe) is a large leaf tea containing tips.
P (pekoe) - peko - large leaf tea.
PS (pekoe sushong) - pekoe sushong is a low quality large leaf tea.
Leaf teas are also labeled as "whole leaf" and "big leaf".
Medium leaf teas:
BOR (broken orange pekoe) - Broken orange pekoe - high quality medium leaf tea.
ВР1 (broken pekoe grade 1) - broken pekoe - medium leaf tea with relatively large tea leaves (you can see that these are leaf particles).
ВР2 (broken pekoe grade 2) or BOPF (broken orange pekoe fannings) is a medium leaf tea with small tea leaves (similar to a mixture of small particles of leaves and tea dust).
BPS (broken pekoe sushong) - broken pekoe sushong - medium leaf, low quality.
Loose leaf marks are also used for midleafs.
Small leaf teas:
PD (pekoe dust), PF (pekoe fannings) - pekoe will give, pekoe fannings - "coarse dust".
F or FNGS (fannings) - fanings - "dropout; medium dust".
D (dust) - will give - "fine dust; dust".
There may also be such designations: red dust (RD), super red dust (SRD), fine dust (FD), super fine dust (SFD), golden dust (GD), but this does not change the essence of the matter - despite the high aesthetics of the names it's all bad tea.
Typically, small-leaf teas are sold as granulated teas or in tea bags (less commonly tablets). As a rule, the vast majority of small-leaf teas are prepared according to the CTC technology and are labeled accordingly.
However, there are also quality small leaf teas, which are generally a waste in the production of high quality leaf teas. They are usually labeled as broken orange pekoe fannings (BFOP or BOPF) or golden orange pekoe fannings (GOPF).
Others:
B. - "broken", tea made from broken twisted leaves, is distinguished by its special strength.
Long Leaf - "long leaf", long leaf tea.
F. in the beginning - "flower", a tea made from leaves growing next to the bud of a new leaf, giving a strong aroma.
F. at the end - "fannings", fine seeding of high quality tea, especially well brewed, used in the production of tea bags of the highest quality.
T. - "tips", unblown buds of tea leaves, giving a delicate taste and aroma.
G. - "golden", a mixture of leaves of the best, "golden" varieties.
The S. at the end is "special", a special blend of leaves with a special character.
S. in the beginning - "sushong", the lower leaves, giving the tea bouquet a specific shade.
F.B.O.P.F. - "ef-bi-o-pi-ef", the standard of medium leaf tea, combining strength and strong aroma.
B.O.P.1 - Bi-o-pee-one, the standard for long leaf tea, which produces a distinctly bright flavor.
F.T.G.F.O.P. - "ef-ti-ji-ef-o-pi", the standard of high-grade large-leaf tea with a large number of tips, characterized by a strong aroma.
T.F.B.O.P. - "ti-ef-bi-o-pi", the standard of loose tea with a high content of tips, combining strength and strong aroma.
G.B.O.P. - "Gi-bi-o-pi", the standard of high-grade loose tea with a strong and vibrant character.
C.T.C. - "si-ti-si", "granulated" tea, prepared according to the accelerated technology "cut-tear-twist", in which part of the taste and aroma is lost. Gives a bright infusion.
D. - "give", tea dust used to produce poor quality tea bags.
International classification of tea
Such a concept as "tea" has two meanings at once. Firstly, this is a drink that is obtained by steeping or boiling, or infusing dry leaves of tea bushes or trees, which, in turn, are processed technologically in a predetermined manner. Secondly, tea is the leaves of bushes or trees themselves, which are intended for the preparation of the above-described drink.
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Traditions or ceremonies of tea drinking, whether in China or in Russia, have their roots in antiquity. In China, it is believed that the ancestor of tea was Emperor Shen Nang, who loved to travel and ruled from 2737 to 2697. BC. And in Russia the tradition of sitting in front of a samovar also originates from the emergence of a nation.
But, be that as it may, the traditions remain the same, but the assortment of tea itself has grown so much today that sometimes the choice in the store simply baffles you. Many people know such types of tea as black, green, white, red and yellow.But, few people know that they are all made from the same leaves of a tea bush or tree. And the differences between these varieties from each other in different methods and ways of preparing these leaves for brewing and preparing a drink.
International Classification of tea
There is a so-called international classification of teas in the world. It is used to facilitate the evaluation of commercially available tea varieties.
1. Orange Pekoe (OP) - This tea uses the leaves from the bushes after the buds have fully expanded. Only the first and second leaves from the top are collected from the branches. Leaves, ready for brewing, have a curled shape. This type of tea does not contain tips (tea buds), but it (this tea) has a very strong and persistent aroma, since it retains a high level of aroma oils. This type of tea also has a high level of tannins, therefore, its taste is slightly bitter. Due to the fact that already opened leaves go into OP tea, that is, they are older than, for example, in Flowery Orange Pekoe tea, it contains much less caffeine.
2. Flowery Orange Pekoe (FOP) - This type of tea is of a higher quality than the previous one, since it uses young, tender leaves that have just blossomed. This tea belongs to large-leaved, well-rolled, homogeneous teas with tips. FOP has a more delicate and subtle aroma than OP, and therefore higher caffeine levels.
3. Flowery (F) - the presence of the letter F in the tea abbreviation indicates that this tea contains young, still unblown buds of a tea plant. The lower part of these buds is covered with a delicate, light-colored fluff. Therefore, even after fermentation, this tea remains light. And it is the tips that give this tea a floral aroma and taste.
4. Golden (G) - the letter G in the abbreviation indicates the presence of the youngest and most delicate buds of the tea plant in tea. After passing the fermentation process, young tips become yellow, and therefore this type of tea is called golden.
5. Tippy (T) - this name comes from the word tip, that is, in translation meaning "top". The T in the abbreviation indicates twice the number of tea plant buds in this variety than in GFOP and GBOP. Delicate buds from young twigs of a tea bush or tree have a beneficial effect not only on the aroma of this type of drink, but also on its taste.
6. Fine (F) - the name of this variety is translated as "refined". This characteristic is associated with the extraordinary aroma of this variety and its taste.
7. SF or Super-fine or Super-fancy - the first two letters of these phrases indicate the excellent degree of finesse of this drink. This type of tea is completely unique and very exceptional in its kind. Its taste and aroma are so subtle that it has no equal in the entire classification table.
8. Special (SP) or Extra Special (EXSP) - these abbreviations speak about the uniqueness of this tea among its analogues.
9. Broken (B) - the letter B, which is in the name of the variety of this tea, indicates its small-leaved use in production. That is, only a broken tea leaf is used for its preparation. The aroma of this tea directly depends on the size of the leaves used. The smaller they are, the less aroma the given drink will have. But, among the advantages of such tea is: fast brewing and active extraction of the substances contained.
10. Souchong (S) - the letter S indicates that this type of tea contains the third and fourth leaves of the tea plant from the top of the branch. Usually such tea is of low quality, practically does not contain caffeine, but it contains a large amount of tannin, even more than in Pekoe.
11. OP1 - A unit in a tea abbreviation can indicate several characteristics of a given variety. This can be: a high content of young tea tree buds, or a high content of selected whole leaves in a given variety, or the curl of the leaves used for this tea is very even and neat.
12.Fannings (F) is an extremely fine tea. That is, for its production, only seedings or leftovers from a broken tea leaf are used.
13. Dust (D) - this grade uses only tea dust, which is formed when tea is sorted in dry form. This drink will have an extremely weak aroma, a very rough taste. The crumb or dust that remains after sorting the high quality varieties will give a very strong drink when brewed. Tea dust is usually used for cheap tea bags.
14. Crushing, Tearning, Curling (CTC) - crushed and rolled leaves of the tea plant are used to make this type of tea. Such tea will brew quite quickly and firmly, its infusion turns out to be dark, with a rough aroma.
According to the International Tea Classification Table, additional designations may include digital and alphabetic abbreviations indicating certain properties of a certain type of tea.
So, for example, numbers 1.2.3. will indicate the size of the leaf that was used to make this tea. The roman numerals can be used to indicate the spring, summer, and autumn harvesting periods of tea leaves that were used in this pack. Choppy is an indicator of a low-grade tea collection for which tea particles of different sizes were used.
The abbreviation EXSP (Extra Special) denotes varieties with a unique quality that prevails in this particular variety, among its analogues.
CL or Clonal Bush - these letters denote high quality tea, for the preparation of which leaves from bushes were used, which were obtained not by traditional seed, but by a vegetative method. It is worth noting here that only the best tea bushes are cloned, therefore the tea made from the leaves of these bushes is always of high quality.
In the international classification of tea, there is also a separate classification table for green varieties.
1. Gunpowder (GP) - translated as "gunpowder". This is green tea, the leaves of which are rolled into balls (balls similar to powder). During the infusion, the balls “bloom” and the quality tea leaves are visible.
2. Green Tea Fannings (GTF) - Green tea made with tea dust.
3. GTFF - green tea made from small leaves of the tea tree.
4. Hyson - means "Blooming Spring". This is a Chinese green tea made from a chopped or broken tea tree leaf. The leaves are curled, but not uniform. The quality of this tea varies between high and medium levels.
5. Young Hyson (YH) - These teas use larger leaves than the Hyson standard. And the name of this variety translates as "before the rain", since these leaves are always collected at the very beginning of the season.
6. Fine Hyson (FH) - also Chinese green tea made from unevenly twisted leaves, broken or cut.
7. Fine Young Hyson (FYH) is the designation for one of the green Chinese teas made from selected tea tree leaves.
8. Young Hyson Special (YHS) - tea from the category of special.
9. Chung Hao is the name and designation of Chinese jasmine green tea. This tea is always of high quality and expensive, for which it is popularly called the "Imperial drink".
10. Green Crush, Tear, Curl (GREEN CTC) - granulated green Chinese tea.
Tea labeling with explanations
(for those who are too lazy to go into details, but want to get a general idea)
This classification does not cover the entire variety of markings used, but gives an idea of the most common types.
Very often on packages of tea, as a rule, not made in China, you can find markings indicating its type. We will try to figure out what these letters mean.
1. Let's start with a high-quality whole leaf tea:
T (Tippy) - tip. Tea from unblown tea buds (tips). Pure tip tea is extremely rare and expensive.
P (Pekoe) - buy.Tea made from tips and the youngest upper leaves, which are covered with white fibers. Bai hua means "White Flowers" in Chinese.
O (Orange) - orange. Generalized name for high-end whole leaf teas with roots dating back to the colonial era. The name meant that this type of tea was worthy to be delivered to the court of the Prince of Orange
OP (Orange Pekoe) - Orange Pekoe (baikhovy) - Tea satisfying both Orange and Pekoe categories. The OP class contains no tips.
OPI - the letter I indicates that the tea has been sifted again
OPA - letter A denotes high category (A)
If tea buds (tips) are added to the OP class, then such tea is considered more upscale and expensive, and is divided into the following subclasses:
FOP (Flowery Orange Pekoe) - High quality top-leaf tea with the addition of a small amount of tips.
GFOP (Golden Flowery Orange Pekoe) - Slightly more tips than FOP.
TGFOP (Tippy Golden Flowery Orange Pekoe) - Even more tips than GFOP.
FTGFOP (Finest Tippy Golden Flowery Orange Pekoe) - Similar to TGFOP, but only the highest quality leaves are used for its production. Tea is produced only on the best plantations, often using manual processing.
SFTGFOP (Super Fine Tippy Golden Flowery Orange Pekoe) - Used to emphasize the highest quality.
There is a joke among tea lovers that FTGFOP tea labeling stands for Far Too Good For Ordinary People (Too good for ordinary people)
2. This is followed by medium-grade teas made from broken or cut leaves. Such tea brews faster, and its infusion is stronger, but its aroma and, in particular, taste is noticeably worse.
The classes of broken tea are similar to whole leaf tea, but the letter B is added at the beginning (Broken) - broken
BP (Broken Pekoe) - Broken long tea
BOP (Broken Orange Pekoe) - Broken orange pekoe
Further, the BOP class is divided into subclasses, depending on the content of the tips. This division is exactly the same as the OP's subclasses described above.
BFOP (Broken Flowery Orange Pekoe)
BGFOP (Golden Flowery Orange Pekoe)
BTGFOP (Broken Tippy Golden Flowery Orange Pekoe)
BFTGFOP (Broken Finest Tippy Golden Flowery Orange Pekoe)
3. And finally, low-grade milled teas. These are specially shredded cheap varieties or production waste. This type of tea is usually used for the production of tea bags.
F (Fannings) - seeding from small particles of tea
D (Dust) - dust, the smallest particles of tea. Typically waste from the production of higher quality teas.
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