India Tea Nomenclature

What is BOP, SFTGFOP etc.?

There is some confusion, even among seasoned tea drinkers, about the meaning of the letters appending Indian teas. The acronyms used to "grade" the teas range from a short OP (for Orange Pekoe) to a confusing SFTGFOP (for Special Finest Tippy Golden Flowery Orange Pekoe).

The letters describe three different aspects of the leaves used: the type of leaves, the size of the leaves and the amount of finest quality leaves used in a specific tea.

The Type of leaves — P, OP, FOP

For the manufacturing of truly fine teas, only the top two leaves, called Pekoe (P) and Orange Pekoe (OP), and the not yet fully opened leaf bud called Flowery Orange Pekoe (FOP), are being used. As a general guideline one can say that the smaller and younger the leaf, the more delicate and aromatic the tea.

The size of the leaves — OPF, BOP, OP

During the production process, the tea leaves may be broken or crushed so that the unsorted but otherwise finished tea consists of full leaves, broken leaves and smaller particles called fannings. Since the necessary steeping time increases with the size of the leaves, the tea must be sorted by size before it can be packed and sold. One production run can, for example, result in the following three lots: one of small size Orange Pekoe Fannings (OPF), one of larger size Broken Orange Pekoe (BOP), and a third one of full-leafed Orange Pekoe (OP). The teas brewed from the different lots will have different characteristics: While whole-leaf teas have a tendency of being more delicate and aromatic with a lighter cup color, broken teas are usually stronger or heartier and the infusion is darker.

The amount of finest leaves — GFOP, TGFOP, FTGFOP, SFTGFOP

The addition of the letters G for golden – i.e. GFOP or GFBOP – is an indication that the tea contains very young tips or buds that have been plugged early in the season. Tea bushes must be harvested every six to fourteen days during the growing period. The slowly growing, immature buds of the first pluckings have a golden color and are highly desirable due to their concentrated flavor. When the share of these young, golden tips is high, the teas are marked tippy as in TGFOP or TGFBOP. If a garden considers the quality absolutely exceptional the teas are rated FTGFOP for finest TGFOP or even SFTGFOP for Special Finest Tippy Golden Flowery Orange Pekoe. Some teas may also carry the letters CL or SP/CL, which means that these teas descended from clonal cuttings of tea plants with especially desirable characteristics.

While an understanding of this nomenclature helps to judge the general character of a tea, this grading system is not a dependable classification for quality and value. The use of the acronyms is not standardized which means that very similar quality teas coming from different estates can have different acronyms. The tea merchant therefore has to have an in-depth knowledge of the way in which individual tea gardens grade their teas. The real quality can only be determined by comparative tasting of the teas.