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Added : 2014 Spring Teas, Xihu Long Jing Green Tea, Bi Luo Chun Green Tea, Green Needle Tea, Mao Jian White Tea, Pai Mu Tan White Tea
TeaCuppa Guarantee |
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Determining Tea Quality
To ensure the quality of any given tea variety, the general six steps below should help. The Brew Check the Aroma Check the Color Taste the Tea Check the Tea Leaves Check the Dry Tea Leaves for Quality Tea Grades
Basically, tea leaves are classified into two grades;
Whole leaf grades are;
Broken leaf tea grades include;
Tippy and flowery grades, which indicate the presence of intact leaf/bud lips in the tea, are generally used only to describe Indian or Ceylon teas. Some of these grades include;
The word orange in orange pekoe was originally used by Dutch traders to suggest a link between their tea and the royal family, the House of Orange. The word pekoe derived from Pak Ho, the Chinese word that describes a baby’s fine white hair, refers to the white downy tea leaf buds. The name orange pekoe is used to categorize whole leaf tea from India and Ceylon. However, some tea companies incorrectly label black tea, particularly bagged tea, as orange pekoe to indicate taste quality when the term actually refers to tea leaf size (i.e. whole leaf tea, leaf tea). Teabags are actually made from the smallest tea particles, called dust. |