Maybe you wondered as well what those letters on your tea package mean?
FTGFOP1 is only used for whole leaf teas. Tea that consists of fine uncrushed leaves with a delicate taste. In short a synonym for high quality. Besides leaf teas there are also crushed and torn leaves that are referred to as “broken”, “fannings” which are separated from broken- leaf teas which have larger pieces of the leaves by sifting and “dust” with extremely small particles of tea leaves. [FTGFOP1]Orange Pekoe relates to the quality of the tea leaves. Orange does not refer to the colour but to the Dutch word “oranje” meaning “royal”. Pekoe (in Chinese pak-ho) can be translated as “white” – the colour of the fine fluff beneath young shoots. The F (for flowery) before OP indicates that tender and delicate flower buds were picked for this tea.
FOP1 allows conclusions about the care with which the tea was plucked – just two leaves and a bud. The coarser leaves remain on the tea bush. Only teas from Darjeeling that meet premium standards will bear the number 1.
FTG (Finest Tippy Golden) indicate that the tea has a lot of fine, light coloured tips. Tips are of lighter shades since they do not contain as much cell sap that turns dark during fermentation. As a general rule you may keep in mind the longer the string of letters, the better the tea. FTGFOP1 will ensure a superior quality tea that has been carefully and diligently manufactured.
