Orange Pekoe
Orange Pekoe (OP) is a Western grade for whole-leaf black tea describing leaf size and appearance, not flavor; it has nothing to do with oranges.
Definition
Orange Pekoe, abbreviated OP, is a grade in the orthodox grading system used for black tea from India, Sri Lanka, Africa and elsewhere. It describes long, whole, wiry leaves sorted by size after processing. It says nothing about flavor, quality of origin, or any orange taste. The origin of the name is uncertain. Pekoe is usually traced to a southern Chinese term for the white down on young buds, pronounced pak-ho in Amoy dialect (白毫, bai hao in Mandarin). The word orange is often linked to the Dutch House of Orange-Nassau, whose traders were early importers of tea, or to the coppery color of well-made leaf, but neither explanation is proven. OP is the base of a ladder of whole-leaf grades. Adding letters signals more tips and finer plucking: FOP is Flowery Orange Pekoe, GFOP Golden Flowery Orange Pekoe, TGFOP Tippy Golden Flowery Orange Pekoe, and FTGFOP adds Finest. Broken grades start with B, such as BOP (Broken Orange Pekoe), followed by fannings and dust. Grade describes particle size and appearance, so a well-made BOP from a good estate can taste better than a poor OP.
In Depth
Grades are assigned by sieving. After drying, the tea passes through mesh screens, and each size fraction gets a grade. Whole leaf grades steep more slowly than broken ones: allow 4-5 minutes at 95-100°C (203-212°F) for OP, versus 3-4 minutes for BOP.
Grading conventions differ by country. Sri Lankan OP is often a long, twisted leaf with few tips, while Indian grades rely more on tip content and the extra letters. Chinese and Japanese teas do not use this system.
Many supermarket products are labeled "orange pekoe" as a generic name for black tea, even when the tea is broken grade or CTC. On those boxes the term means "plain black tea," not a whole-leaf grade. In the dry leaf, OP should look long, twisted and fairly uniform, with few broken pieces or stems.
See Also
- Black Tea Grading
- Orthodox Tea Processing
- Ceylon Tea