Black Tea Leaf Grading

India, Sri Lanka and Africa use the same black tea grading system.  Tea is coded with letters that correspond to their grade.  For example, a Darjeeling tea from Castleton Estate may be sold as Darjeeling FTGFOP Castleton.

Below is a table for the designations used for both orthodox and CTC grades of Indian Black tea ranging from the highest grade (SFTGFOP) to the lowest (BPS).

 

Grades of Orthodox  Indian Black Tea
Whole   Leaf
SFTGFOP Special Fine Tippy Golden Flowery Orange Pekoe  (smallest whole leaf)  The finest FOP available.
FTGFOP Fine Tippy Golden Flowery Orange Pekoe (medium whole leaf)  FOP of outstanding quality.
TGFOP Tippy Golden Flowery Orange Pekoe (medium whole leaf)  FOP with a high proportion of golden tips.
GFOP Golden Flowery Orange Pekoe  (large whole leaf)  FOP with golden tips.
FOP Flowery Orange Pekoe   (extra-large whole leaf)
FP Flowery Pekoe
OP Orange Pekoe
Broken   Leaf
GFBOP Golden Flowery Broken Orange Pekoe
GBOP Golden Broken Orange Pekoe
FBOP Flowery Broken Orange Pekoe
BOP1 Broken Orange Pekoe one
BOP Broken Orange Pekoe
BPS Broken Pekoe Souchong
OP Orange Pekoe
Grades of CTC Tea
Broken   Leaf
FP Flowery Pekoe
PEK Pekoe
BOP Broken Orange Pekoe
BP1 Broken Pekoe One
BP Broken Pekoe
BPS Broken Pekoe Souchong