Tippy (Golden Tips)
Tippy tea contains many tips, the unopened buds of the shoot, which turn gold during oxidation in black tea and are a visible marker of fine plucking.
Definition
Tips are the leaf buds at the end of each tea shoot. They are covered in fine down and contain high levels of caffeine, amino acids and aroma compounds. A tippy tea has a high proportion of these buds in the finished leaf, a sign that it was finely plucked, usually from the first leaves of the shoot. In black tea, the buds turn gold or orange during rolling and oxidation, because their downy hairs absorb juices from the crushed leaf and take on color. These are golden tips. Assam second flush, Dian Hong (Yunnan black) and some Kenyan and Ceylon specialty teas are known for them. Dian Hong made almost entirely from buds is sold as jin ya (金芽, golden bud) or golden needle. In white and some green teas, the buds stay silver or pale, called silver tips; Silver Needle is made only of them. Grading uses tip content directly. The T in TGFOP and FTGFOP stands for Tippy, and G for Golden. A tippy tea usually brews a sweeter, smoother, less astringent cup with a honey or cocoa note, and it costs more because buds are a small share of the plant's weight.
In Depth
Golden-tipped black tea tolerates slightly cooler water than ordinary black tea. Brew at 90-95°C (194-203°F), 3 g per 250 ml, for 3-4 minutes in a Western pot, or 5 g per 100 ml with 10-20 second infusions gongfu style.
Look for whole, plump tips with intact down. Broken tips and gold dust in the bottom of the bag are normal but indicate rough handling. Tips should be part of the leaf, not added separately to dress up a lower grade.
Tip content and quality are not the same. A tippy tea can still be flat if the rest of the processing was poor, and some strong breakfast teas contain few tips by design. Taste before paying a premium for appearance alone.
See Also
- Golden Tips
- Black Tea Grading
- Yunnan Black Tea