Flowers, Food, Friends - a Dream becomes Reality

100 St. & 100 Ave Ave.            Morinville, Alberta, Canada           In the Red Brick house at the Lights
Minutes north of Edmonton & St. Albert                             

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Tea Grades

In a restaurant I am often asked what type of tea would I like.  At times, I am offered an Orange Pekoe tea.  This is not a type of tea, but rather a grade of tea.  First the word pekoe is pronounced “peck-oh” which will most certainly give you that English accent associated with all things tea.  There are many various grades of tea, but the rule of thumb is that the more words involved the higher the quality and of course the value (mucho dollars) involved.

Loose Teas from Vintage Petals Tea House :

• Orange pekoe (OP): The true tea language that stands for whole leaf loose tea and is usually tea from areas of Sri Lanka and India.  Our Lover’s Leap is in this category. When you pour boiling water on this tea you will see how the leaf uncurls and expands quite dramatically, a process called “the agony of the leaf”
  
  
• Flowery Orange Pekoe (FOP): This is high-quality loose tea with a long leaf and a few tips.  This tea is considered second grade in Assam teas but first grade in China teas.
  
  
• Golden Flowery Orange Pekoe (GFOP): A higher quality loose tea that includes the golden tips of young bud leaves.  Our Milima tea fits into this category and you soon see the difference in taste.
  
  
• Tippy Golden Flowery Orange Pekoe (TGFOP): As above (GFOP) with only the highest quality leaf.
  
  
• Fine Tippy Golden Flowery Orange Pekoe (FTGFOP): Highest quality grade of tea.  Often hand processed and produced at only the best plantations.  Roughly one quarter of the tea is tips.
  
  Among tea experts the joke is that “FTGFOP” stand for “Far Too Good For Ordinary People”

Tea not carried in Vintage Petals Tea House but found in your local supermarket:

• Broken Orange Pekoe (BOP): This is tea that has many small or broken pieces of tea leaves.
  
  
• Fannings/Dust: This is usually leftovers from processing.  Commonly found in tea bags.  We have nothing against tea bags, but it is what is in them that concerns us.