TEA EDUCATION - PREMIUM TEAS FROM INDIA

The tea grading initials, which are commonly stenciled along the side of tea chests, are briefly described below.

OP - Orange Pekoe (pronounced pek-oh): The term often used to describe the largest leaf grade for teas from Sri Lanka and occasionally from the South of India. The term Orange was derived from the Dutch house of Orange. Pekoe was derived from a Chinese word meaning white down and refers to the tips of young tea buds' leaves.
FOP - Flowery Orange Pekoe: The term used throughout the rest of India to describe the largest tea leaves.
GFOP - Golden Flowery Orange Pekoe: FOP with golden tips which are the delicate yellow tips of the buds' leaves.
TGFOP - Tippy Golden Flowery Orange Pekoe: FOP with a larger proportion of golden tips than GFOP.
FTGFOP - Finest Tippy Golden Flowery Orange Pekoe: Very high quality FOP
SFTGFOP - Supreme Finest Tippy Golden Flowery Orange Pekoe: Very high quality FOP with lots of golden tips. For Darjeeling teas, the "S" indicates Supreme light colored liquor.
BOP - Broken Orange Pekoe: Broken size tea leaves
BOPF - Broken Orange Pekoe Fannings: Tea fibers that are smaller than BOP leaves and are commonly found in tea bags.

The freshly gathered shoots are collected and a method of withering, rolling fermenting and drying, produces the fine teas of India. Black tea makes up 98 percent of the international tea trade and is the familiar coloured tea, flavoured with a delicate aroma and should be without any bitterness. Green tea does not go through the fermenting process and the leaves are heated (roasted in an iron pan or steamed) to prevent fermentation. It makes a pale greenish-yellow tea, which is milder and slightly bitter.

In the final sorting or grading, tea acquires the colourful names that are used in the tea trade. They do not refer to the quality but to the size and appearance of the tea. There are two main grades - leaf and broken leaf.

Leaf grades: These have larger leaves and are classified as Orange Pekoe and Pekoe.
Broken leaf grades: Broken Orange Pekoe and Broken Pekoe.

Within the broken leaf type there are further divisions which include:
Fannings: All small leaf teas. They make stronger tea than broken leaves.
Dust: The smallest leaf particle size and it is certainly not "dust from the factory floor".

It can take five years to train a tea taster's palate capable of tasting one to three hundred teas in a day. People imagine that a tea taster drinks the liquid until he is awash with it, but, as in the case with wine tasting, this is not so. The taster will take a large spoonful of tea, suck the liquid onto the taste buds all over the tongue, savour it, and spit it out.

The process of blending takes place after further professional tasting. Usually a blend may be made up of different teas from various tea gardens. The blender's expertise guarantees consistency - to ensure tea picked and packed throughout the year in different seasonal conditions does not vary in quality, aroma or taste.

Tea brewing is an art that is simple to perform but which also requires some care to do well. While essentially tea is brewed by adding boiling water to the dry leaf, the quantity of leaves, the temperature of the water and timing is of vital concern. The following is a guide for brewing tea leaves. Please feel free to experiment to find the method that best suits your taste and the particular leaves that you are preparing. Each package of our tea contains detailed instructions as well as brewing times for the various teas.

1) Warm your empty tea pot by filling it with hot water. This will prevent the hot water from cooling too quickly when it is added to the leaves.

2) Boil freshly drawn tap water. If the quality of your tap water is poor, try using filtered or bottled spring water. For black tea, use the water when it comes to a boil. Water left boiling too long will de-aerate. This will result in a flat tasting tea. For green tea, the water should be heated to a lower temperature (usually approximately 80 degrees Celsius), which may vary from tea to tea.

3) Empty the hot water from your tea pot and add 2.25g or one rounded teaspoon of tea leaves for each cup (5.5 oz) of water (or one heaping teaspoon per mug). We suggest placing the tea directly into the bottom of the pot or using a basket infuser. Tea ball strainers, while convenient, often yield poorer tasting tea as they are often too small to allow all of the leaves to fully unravel. If you do use a tea ball, be sure to use one that is sufficiently large.

4) Add the freshly boiled water over the leaves in the tea pot.

5) Brew your tea for the appropriate amount of time. The amount of time needed to brew your tea varies depending on the leaves being used and the drinker's individual taste. Careful timing is essential for brewing tea that meets your desires. A very general rule to follow is the smaller the leaf, the less time required for brewing. Broken grades of tea leaves and most Darjeeling teas usually only need 3-4 minutes to brew. Whole-leaf teas often need 4-5 minutes. All teas, however, will become bitter if brewed for longer than 5 or 6 minutes. When brewing tea, time with a timer, and not with your eyes. It is a common mistake to brew the tea until it looks a particular color or shade. The color of tea is a poor indicator of the tea's taste.

6) Serve the tea. If you use a basket infuser or a tea ball, remove these promptly when the brewing time has expired. If you placed the tea directly into the pot, pour the tea into the cups through a strainer to catch the leaves. In this instance, if you do not wish to serve your tea immediately, pour your tea through a strainer into another pre-heated tea pot.

7) ENJOY YOUR TEA!!! Add whatever you desire to your tea. You may find that some teas taste particularly nice with sugar and/or milk or lemon, while others taste best pure.

Tea easily absorbs moisture and odours and so it is essential that it is kept in a cool dry place away from any strong smelling items. It must be stored in an airtight container not exposed to light and used within a reasonable time. Because light breaks down the quality of tea, glass containers are not suitable for the storage of tea unless stored away from light.

Packaging is Important
The process of packaging tea is important because tea that is old or not properly packaged loses its flavour and aroma. Our tea is fresher than most tea brands because it is packed and exported in vacuum sealed foil pouches. Quality teas are packed in different types of packaging/caddies made from tropical hardwoods, metal, papier mache and/or cartons.
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The Complete Guide to Green Tea