Does anyone know what grading of tea FPEK is? When I first saw the tea in
question (a Ceylon Uva) I actually thought it was a CTC tea, small curled up
'pellets', but when infused it seems to be made of small broken bits of
leaf.

Lars
(Bergen, Norway)

It probably means Flowery Pekoe. But I don't believe these
gradings are very standardized.

Jon

"Lars I. Mehlum" > skrev i melding
...
> Does anyone know what grading of tea FPEK is? When I first saw
the tea in
> question (a Ceylon Uva) I actually thought it was a CTC tea,
small curled up
> 'pellets', but when infused it seems to be made of small
broken bits of
> leaf.
>
> Lars
> (Bergen, Norway)
>
>

It probably means Flowery Pekoe. But I don't believe these
gradings are very standardized.

Jon

"Lars I. Mehlum" > skrev i melding
...
> Does anyone know what grading of tea FPEK is? When I first saw
the tea in
> question (a Ceylon Uva) I actually thought it was a CTC tea,
small curled up
> 'pellets', but when infused it seems to be made of small
broken bits of
> leaf.
>
> Lars
> (Bergen, Norway)
>
>

"Jon P Nossen" > wrote in message
news:wocOc.3609$vH5.2322@amstwist00...
> It probably means Flowery Pekoe. But I don't believe these
> gradings are very standardized.
>
> Jon
>


That's what I thought too. But I've never seen a FP like this. Anyway, it's
an eastern quality season Uva from the Uva Highlands estate, and it's very
good!

Lars
(Bergen, Norway)


> "Lars I. Mehlum" > skrev i melding
> ...
> > Does anyone know what grading of tea FPEK is? When I first saw
> the tea in
> > question (a Ceylon Uva) I actually thought it was a CTC tea,
> small curled up
> > 'pellets', but when infused it seems to be made of small
> broken bits of
> > leaf.
> >
> > Lars
> > (Bergen, Norway)
> >
> >
>
>

"Jon P Nossen" > wrote in message
news:wocOc.3609$vH5.2322@amstwist00...
> It probably means Flowery Pekoe. But I don't believe these
> gradings are very standardized.
>
> Jon
>


That's what I thought too. But I've never seen a FP like this. Anyway, it's
an eastern quality season Uva from the Uva Highlands estate, and it's very
good!

Lars
(Bergen, Norway)


> "Lars I. Mehlum" > skrev i melding
> ...
> > Does anyone know what grading of tea FPEK is? When I first saw
> the tea in
> > question (a Ceylon Uva) I actually thought it was a CTC tea,
> small curled up
> > 'pellets', but when infused it seems to be made of small
> broken bits of
> > leaf.
> >
> > Lars
> > (Bergen, Norway)
> >
> >
>
>

The Ceylon grades are mostly BOP, FBOP, OP. I've never seen any that
looked like CTC. I recently got a FBOPF where the leaf looks like a
long extremely thin half white half black twist making a very sexy
leaf. Back in the early eighties I got some Ceylon called Lovers
Leap. I just came across it again. I don't know the xlands source.
It is the perfect tea for non tea drinkers. The perfect evening tea
for the rest of us. You simply can't wrong with any commercial brand
Ceylon especially produced for the middle east or Russia.

Jim

"Lars I. Mehlum" > wrote in message >...
> "Jon P Nossen" > wrote in message
> news:wocOc.3609$vH5.2322@amstwist00...
> > It probably means Flowery Pekoe. But I don't believe these
> > gradings are very standardized.
> >
> > Jon
> >
>
>
> That's what I thought too. But I've never seen a FP like this. Anyway, it's
> an eastern quality season Uva from the Uva Highlands estate, and it's very
> good!
>
> Lars
> (Bergen, Norway)
>
>
> > "Lars I. Mehlum" > skrev i melding
> > ...
> > > Does anyone know what grading of tea FPEK is? When I first saw
> the tea in
> > > question (a Ceylon Uva) I actually thought it was a CTC tea,
> small curled up
> > > 'pellets', but when infused it seems to be made of small
> broken bits of
> > > leaf.
> > >
> > > Lars
> > > (Bergen, Norway)

In article > (Fri, 30 Jul
2004 08:30:50 -0700), Space Cowboy wrote:

> The Ceylon grades are mostly BOP, FBOP, OP. I've never seen any that
> looked like CTC.

Upton is advertising a Ceylon CTC.

> I recently got a FBOPF where the leaf looks like a long extremely thin half
> white half black twist making a very sexy leaf.

That's some hot tea!

In article > (Fri, 30 Jul
2004 08:30:50 -0700), Space Cowboy wrote:

> The Ceylon grades are mostly BOP, FBOP, OP. I've never seen any that
> looked like CTC.

Upton is advertising a Ceylon CTC.

> I recently got a FBOPF where the leaf looks like a long extremely thin half
> white half black twist making a very sexy leaf.

That's some hot tea!

I would have guessed that over the decades I would have seen a CTC
Ceylon first in a commercial brand. You see CTC all the time in
Indian teas but that process I haven't seen in other tea producing
countries which still use sieving. Hopefully our resident tea
industry expert can shed some light on this subject. Ceylon has the
same problem as India with Darjeeling. There is a Ceylon trademark
making it authentic. Otherwise just shipped and packaged in Ceylon.
So I went to my favorite Arabic market and they no longer carry my
tasty commercial Ceylon. New young owners bought the business of the
old owner and they understand me better. But I did get my first
Iranian tea called Nemooneh. It says Produced and Packaged in Iran so
I guess that means homegrown at the outrageous price of $4.50/500g. I
picked up some goat for a curry and injera bread for sopping up the
stew.

Jim

Hamilcar Barca > wrote in message >.. .
> In article > (Fri, 30 Jul
> 2004 08:30:50 -0700), Space Cowboy wrote:
>
> > The Ceylon grades are mostly BOP, FBOP, OP. I've never seen any that
> > looked like CTC.
>
> Upton is advertising a Ceylon CTC.
>
> > I recently got a FBOPF where the leaf looks like a long extremely thin half
> > white half black twist making a very sexy leaf.
>
> That's some hot tea!

I would have guessed that over the decades I would have seen a CTC
Ceylon first in a commercial brand. You see CTC all the time in
Indian teas but that process I haven't seen in other tea producing
countries which still use sieving. Hopefully our resident tea
industry expert can shed some light on this subject. Ceylon has the
same problem as India with Darjeeling. There is a Ceylon trademark
making it authentic. Otherwise just shipped and packaged in Ceylon.
So I went to my favorite Arabic market and they no longer carry my
tasty commercial Ceylon. New young owners bought the business of the
old owner and they understand me better. But I did get my first
Iranian tea called Nemooneh. It says Produced and Packaged in Iran so
I guess that means homegrown at the outrageous price of $4.50/500g. I
picked up some goat for a curry and injera bread for sopping up the
stew.

Jim

Hamilcar Barca > wrote in message >.. .
> In article > (Fri, 30 Jul
> 2004 08:30:50 -0700), Space Cowboy wrote:
>
> > The Ceylon grades are mostly BOP, FBOP, OP. I've never seen any that
> > looked like CTC.
>
> Upton is advertising a Ceylon CTC.
>
> > I recently got a FBOPF where the leaf looks like a long extremely thin half
> > white half black twist making a very sexy leaf.
>
> That's some hot tea!

There is a small amount of CTC production in Sri Lanka/Ceylon. I
believe I've read that about 6 per cent is CTC. But a huge
amount of the "orthodox" black tea is made into small particles,
i.e. BOP, BOPF and Dust, by the Rotorvane process.

Jon

"Space Cowboy" > skrev i melding
om...
> I would have guessed that over the decades I would have seen a
CTC
> Ceylon first in a commercial brand. You see CTC all the time
in
> Indian teas but that process I haven't seen in other tea
producing
> countries which still use sieving. Hopefully our resident tea
> industry expert can shed some light on this subject. Ceylon
has the
> same problem as India with Darjeeling. There is a Ceylon
trademark
> making it authentic. Otherwise just shipped and packaged in
Ceylon.
> So I went to my favorite Arabic market and they no longer
carry my
> tasty commercial Ceylon. New young owners bought the business
of the
> old owner and they understand me better. But I did get my
first
> Iranian tea called Nemooneh. It says Produced and Packaged in
Iran so
> I guess that means homegrown at the outrageous price of
$4.50/500g. I
> picked up some goat for a curry and injera bread for sopping
up the
> stew.
>
> Jim
>
> Hamilcar Barca > wrote in message
>.. .
> > In article >
(Fri, 30 Jul
> > 2004 08:30:50 -0700), Space Cowboy wrote:
> >
> > > The Ceylon grades are mostly BOP, FBOP, OP. I've never
seen any that
> > > looked like CTC.
> >
> > Upton is advertising a Ceylon CTC.
> >
> > > I recently got a FBOPF where the leaf looks like a long
extremely thin half
> > > white half black twist making a very sexy leaf.
> >
> > That's some hot tea!

There is a small amount of CTC production in Sri Lanka/Ceylon. I
believe I've read that about 6 per cent is CTC. But a huge
amount of the "orthodox" black tea is made into small particles,
i.e. BOP, BOPF and Dust, by the Rotorvane process.

Jon

"Space Cowboy" > skrev i melding
om...
> I would have guessed that over the decades I would have seen a
CTC
> Ceylon first in a commercial brand. You see CTC all the time
in
> Indian teas but that process I haven't seen in other tea
producing
> countries which still use sieving. Hopefully our resident tea
> industry expert can shed some light on this subject. Ceylon
has the
> same problem as India with Darjeeling. There is a Ceylon
trademark
> making it authentic. Otherwise just shipped and packaged in
Ceylon.
> So I went to my favorite Arabic market and they no longer
carry my
> tasty commercial Ceylon. New young owners bought the business
of the
> old owner and they understand me better. But I did get my
first
> Iranian tea called Nemooneh. It says Produced and Packaged in
Iran so
> I guess that means homegrown at the outrageous price of
$4.50/500g. I
> picked up some goat for a curry and injera bread for sopping
up the
> stew.
>
> Jim
>
> Hamilcar Barca > wrote in message
>.. .
> > In article >
(Fri, 30 Jul
> > 2004 08:30:50 -0700), Space Cowboy wrote:
> >
> > > The Ceylon grades are mostly BOP, FBOP, OP. I've never
seen any that
> > > looked like CTC.
> >
> > Upton is advertising a Ceylon CTC.
> >
> > > I recently got a FBOPF where the leaf looks like a long
extremely thin half
> > > white half black twist making a very sexy leaf.
> >
> > That's some hot tea!

Sri Lanka produce a lot of CTC teas. In domestic market CTC tea is the
most popular one because local people like strong, robust cup.

Jim already mention about some grades BOP, FBOP and OP. Actually BOP
is not a orthodox grade, this grading system is for CTC tea-
BOP(Broken Orange Pekoe) This BOP teas are granular teas.

Ripon
Vienna,VA


Hamilcar Barca > wrote in message >.. .
> In article > (Fri, 30 Jul
> 2004 08:30:50 -0700), Space Cowboy wrote:
>
> > The Ceylon grades are mostly BOP, FBOP, OP. I've never seen any that
> > looked like CTC.
>
> Upton is advertising a Ceylon CTC.
>
> > I recently got a FBOPF where the leaf looks like a long extremely thin half
> > white half black twist making a very sexy leaf.
>
> That's some hot tea!

In article > (Sat, 31 Jul
2004 06:59:53 -0700), Space Cowboy wrote:

> There is a Ceylon trademark making it authentic. Otherwise just shipped
> and packaged in Ceylon.

Are you saying companies without the "seal of authenticity" are importing
tea to Sri Lanka just to package and export?

> But I did get my first Iranian tea called Nemooneh. It says Produced
> and Packaged in Iran so I guess that means homegrown at the outrageous
> price of $4.50/500g.

But, is it good? I finally found one (1) local shop that carries Ceylon
tea. It's Alwazah (Swan) brand and it's acceptable at $4.29/500g; it's
not nearly as good as some other I've had at $5.99 but nobody here carries
it.

In article > (Sat, 31 Jul
2004 06:59:53 -0700), Space Cowboy wrote:

> There is a Ceylon trademark making it authentic. Otherwise just shipped
> and packaged in Ceylon.

Are you saying companies without the "seal of authenticity" are importing
tea to Sri Lanka just to package and export?

> But I did get my first Iranian tea called Nemooneh. It says Produced
> and Packaged in Iran so I guess that means homegrown at the outrageous
> price of $4.50/500g.

But, is it good? I finally found one (1) local shop that carries Ceylon
tea. It's Alwazah (Swan) brand and it's acceptable at $4.29/500g; it's
not nearly as good as some other I've had at $5.99 but nobody here carries
it.

I'll describe the grades you'll see on commercial Ceylon packaging.
With the Ceylon seal you also get a grade lettering. BOPF is
fannings, BOP irregular indistinguishable broken, FBOP small leaf, OP
the largest leaf. With seemingly little CTC and commercial BOP at
around $5/500g it is still cheaper than most Indian CTC.

Jim

"Jon P Nossen" > wrote in message news:<nHQOc.3776$vH5.2598@amstwist00>...
> There is a small amount of CTC production in Sri Lanka/Ceylon. I
> believe I've read that about 6 per cent is CTC. But a huge
> amount of the "orthodox" black tea is made into small particles,
> i.e. BOP, BOPF and Dust, by the Rotorvane process.
>
> Jon
>
> "Space Cowboy" > skrev i melding
> om...
> > I would have guessed that over the decades I would have seen a
> CTC
> > Ceylon first in a commercial brand. You see CTC all the time
> in
> > Indian teas but that process I haven't seen in other tea
> producing
> > countries which still use sieving.

I'll describe the grades you'll see on commercial Ceylon packaging.
With the Ceylon seal you also get a grade lettering. BOPF is
fannings, BOP irregular indistinguishable broken, FBOP small leaf, OP
the largest leaf. With seemingly little CTC and commercial BOP at
around $5/500g it is still cheaper than most Indian CTC.

Jim

"Jon P Nossen" > wrote in message news:<nHQOc.3776$vH5.2598@amstwist00>...
> There is a small amount of CTC production in Sri Lanka/Ceylon. I
> believe I've read that about 6 per cent is CTC. But a huge
> amount of the "orthodox" black tea is made into small particles,
> i.e. BOP, BOPF and Dust, by the Rotorvane process.
>
> Jon
>
> "Space Cowboy" > skrev i melding
> om...
> > I would have guessed that over the decades I would have seen a
> CTC
> > Ceylon first in a commercial brand. You see CTC all the time
> in
> > Indian teas but that process I haven't seen in other tea
> producing
> > countries which still use sieving.

Yup look for the "CEYLON TEA Symbol of Quality" to be absolutely sure.
It can be absent but so strong it discourages attempted ripoffs.
Ahmad doesn't use the seal because of their name. You'll find lots of
Ceylon commercial brands to choose from. I'm partial to the larger
Arabic Ceylon 1/2k tins like Alwazah and Royal World (no seal)
compared to the smaller 100g Russian tins. For about $5 you can get
Alwazah 450g FBOP1 in a tin with the seal of approval. Ahmad,
Sadaf(no seal), Alghazaleen are mostly paper with occasional tins. I
got a fantastic 450g colorful Akbar Brothers Russian tin with a hinged
lid and snap hook. It is similar to their Alghazaleen tin. The
closest to Iranian Nemooneh is Turkish Caykur. I don't do comparisons
because the cup I'm drinking always seems to taste just fine. The
Caykur is bold the Nemooneh mellow. AFAIK any tea grown in the middle
east is pesticide free (? the Koran and something similar to Jewish
kosher).

Jim

Hamilcar Barca > wrote in message >.. .
> In article > (Sat, 31 Jul
> 2004 06:59:53 -0700), Space Cowboy wrote:
>
> > There is a Ceylon trademark making it authentic. Otherwise just shipped
> > and packaged in Ceylon.
>
> Are you saying companies without the "seal of authenticity" are importing
> tea to Sri Lanka just to package and export?
>
> > But I did get my first Iranian tea called Nemooneh. It says Produced
> > and Packaged in Iran so I guess that means homegrown at the outrageous
> > price of $4.50/500g.
>
> But, is it good? I finally found one (1) local shop that carries Ceylon
> tea. It's Alwazah (Swan) brand and it's acceptable at $4.29/500g; it's
> not nearly as good as some other I've had at $5.99 but nobody here carries
> it.

Yup look for the "CEYLON TEA Symbol of Quality" to be absolutely sure.
It can be absent but so strong it discourages attempted ripoffs.
Ahmad doesn't use the seal because of their name. You'll find lots of
Ceylon commercial brands to choose from. I'm partial to the larger
Arabic Ceylon 1/2k tins like Alwazah and Royal World (no seal)
compared to the smaller 100g Russian tins. For about $5 you can get
Alwazah 450g FBOP1 in a tin with the seal of approval. Ahmad,
Sadaf(no seal), Alghazaleen are mostly paper with occasional tins. I
got a fantastic 450g colorful Akbar Brothers Russian tin with a hinged
lid and snap hook. It is similar to their Alghazaleen tin. The
closest to Iranian Nemooneh is Turkish Caykur. I don't do comparisons
because the cup I'm drinking always seems to taste just fine. The
Caykur is bold the Nemooneh mellow. AFAIK any tea grown in the middle
east is pesticide free (? the Koran and something similar to Jewish
kosher).

Jim

Hamilcar Barca > wrote in message >.. .
> In article > (Sat, 31 Jul
> 2004 06:59:53 -0700), Space Cowboy wrote:
>
> > There is a Ceylon trademark making it authentic. Otherwise just shipped
> > and packaged in Ceylon.
>
> Are you saying companies without the "seal of authenticity" are importing
> tea to Sri Lanka just to package and export?
>
> > But I did get my first Iranian tea called Nemooneh. It says Produced
> > and Packaged in Iran so I guess that means homegrown at the outrageous
> > price of $4.50/500g.
>
> But, is it good? I finally found one (1) local shop that carries Ceylon
> tea. It's Alwazah (Swan) brand and it's acceptable at $4.29/500g; it's
> not nearly as good as some other I've had at $5.99 but nobody here carries
> it.

Ripon > wrote:

> Sri Lanka produce a lot of CTC teas.

As I just wrote, about 6 per cent of the Ceylon tea production
is of the CTC type. Meaning that 94 per cent is "orthodox".

> In domestic market CTC tea is the most popular one because
local people like strong, robust cup.

It's not that simple. A lot of the "orthodox" tea (namely that
processed with the Rotorvane machine) is made into small
particles which gives a strong, robust tea with comparably less
flavour. But this is not CTC tea.

> Actually BOP is not a orthodox grade, this grading system is
for CTC tea-
BOP(Broken Orange Pekoe).

This is wrong. BOP (Broken Orange Pekoe) has been used as a
grade in orthodox manucfacturing for a very long time, even
though it is nowadays also used for CTC teas. In Sri Lanka a BOP
tea is usually "orthodox" Rotorvane-processed. However, due to
market demand the BOP teas from Sri Lanka/Ceylon nowadays
consist of much smaller particles than before, making them
difficult to distinguish from BOPF (Fannings) and even Dust.

Jon (Oslo, Norway)

Ripon > wrote:

> Sri Lanka produce a lot of CTC teas.

As I just wrote, about 6 per cent of the Ceylon tea production
is of the CTC type. Meaning that 94 per cent is "orthodox".

> In domestic market CTC tea is the most popular one because
local people like strong, robust cup.

It's not that simple. A lot of the "orthodox" tea (namely that
processed with the Rotorvane machine) is made into small
particles which gives a strong, robust tea with comparably less
flavour. But this is not CTC tea.

> Actually BOP is not a orthodox grade, this grading system is
for CTC tea-
BOP(Broken Orange Pekoe).

This is wrong. BOP (Broken Orange Pekoe) has been used as a
grade in orthodox manucfacturing for a very long time, even
though it is nowadays also used for CTC teas. In Sri Lanka a BOP
tea is usually "orthodox" Rotorvane-processed. However, due to
market demand the BOP teas from Sri Lanka/Ceylon nowadays
consist of much smaller particles than before, making them
difficult to distinguish from BOPF (Fannings) and even Dust.

Jon (Oslo, Norway)

Ripon > wrote:

> Sri Lanka produce a lot of CTC teas.

As I just wrote, about 6 per cent of the Ceylon tea production
is of the CTC type. Meaning that 94 per cent is "orthodox".

> In domestic market CTC tea is the most popular one because
local people like strong, robust cup.

It's not that simple. A lot of the "orthodox" tea (namely that
processed with the Rotorvane machine) is made into small
particles which gives a strong, robust tea with comparably less
flavour. But this is not CTC tea.

> Actually BOP is not a orthodox grade, this grading system is
for CTC tea-
BOP(Broken Orange Pekoe).

This is wrong. BOP (Broken Orange Pekoe) has been used as a
grade in orthodox manucfacturing for a very long time, even
though it is nowadays also used for CTC teas. In Sri Lanka a BOP
tea is usually "orthodox" Rotorvane-processed. However, due to
market demand the BOP teas from Sri Lanka/Ceylon nowadays
consist of much smaller particles than before, making them
difficult to distinguish from BOPF (Fannings) and even Dust.

Jon (Oslo, Norway)

"Jon P Nossen" > wrote in message
> > Sri Lanka produce a lot of CTC teas.
>
> As I just wrote, about 6 per cent of the Ceylon tea production
> is of the CTC type. Meaning that 94 per cent is "orthodox".

Dear Jon:

I didn't disagree that Sri Lanka produce more Orthodox compare to CTC.
Sri Lankan tea industry is export oriented whether Indian tea industry
is local market oriented. Though both of the countries export their
very best teas to the foreign country. Interesting part is all South
Asian country export tea and also import tea from each other for cost
effectiveness. India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka- all this countries
export their good teas and import less quality(mainly CTC) teas from
each other. Sri Lanka's last three years CTC production jumped in
every year- CTC cumulative production during 2003-2004= 2,082,020Kg.
They are also increasing their Orthodox teas. Sri Lankan people prefer
CTC or dust more then orthodox the reason is- cultural, more robust
and strong taste. I am from that region and have been traveled all
this countries. I have seen this. Sri Lanka is trying to reduce their
dependency from imported teas for local market, that's why their CTC
production is jumping every other year. The whole South Asian tea
culture is- they like CTC kind of tea. In India some people like to
blend CTC and Orthodox Darjeeling.

> > In domestic market CTC tea is the most popular one because
> local people like strong, robust cup.
>
> It's not that simple. A lot of the "orthodox" tea (namely that
> processed with the Rotorvane machine) is made into small
> particles which gives a strong, robust tea with comparably less
> flavour. But this is not CTC tea.

First of all, their is no standardized grading system. In south Asia
BOP always graded as CTC tea. In this point, I know what I am talking
about. The Orthodox grading start from SFTGFOP1 China to OP1 or OP.
But BOP is a widely used CTC grading around South Asian tea growing
countries. Orthodox tea can never give the same strong, robust cup
compare to CTC (BOP or dust etc.) I am not saying CTC is better then
Orthodox. I am trying to explain, the reality and South Asian tea
culture.

>
> > Actually BOP is not a orthodox grade, this grading system is
> for CTC tea-
> BOP(Broken Orange Pekoe).
>
> This is wrong. BOP (Broken Orange Pekoe) has been used as a
> grade in orthodox manucfacturing for a very long time, even
> though it is nowadays also used for CTC teas. In Sri Lanka a BOP
> tea is usually "orthodox" Rotorvane-processed. However, due to
> market demand the BOP teas from Sri Lanka/Ceylon nowadays
> consist of much smaller particles than before, making them
> difficult to distinguish from BOPF (Fannings) and even Dust.

I am from Bangladesh and I was close to tea growing community, this
year in January2004 I was in Kolkata for some research about tea and
last year I was in Colombo- I never heard or seen BOP has been used as
Orthodox grading.


Ripon
Vienna,VA

"Jon P Nossen" > wrote in message
> > Sri Lanka produce a lot of CTC teas.
>
> As I just wrote, about 6 per cent of the Ceylon tea production
> is of the CTC type. Meaning that 94 per cent is "orthodox".

Dear Jon:

I didn't disagree that Sri Lanka produce more Orthodox compare to CTC.
Sri Lankan tea industry is export oriented whether Indian tea industry
is local market oriented. Though both of the countries export their
very best teas to the foreign country. Interesting part is all South
Asian country export tea and also import tea from each other for cost
effectiveness. India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka- all this countries
export their good teas and import less quality(mainly CTC) teas from
each other. Sri Lanka's last three years CTC production jumped in
every year- CTC cumulative production during 2003-2004= 2,082,020Kg.
They are also increasing their Orthodox teas. Sri Lankan people prefer
CTC or dust more then orthodox the reason is- cultural, more robust
and strong taste. I am from that region and have been traveled all
this countries. I have seen this. Sri Lanka is trying to reduce their
dependency from imported teas for local market, that's why their CTC
production is jumping every other year. The whole South Asian tea
culture is- they like CTC kind of tea. In India some people like to
blend CTC and Orthodox Darjeeling.

> > In domestic market CTC tea is the most popular one because
> local people like strong, robust cup.
>
> It's not that simple. A lot of the "orthodox" tea (namely that
> processed with the Rotorvane machine) is made into small
> particles which gives a strong, robust tea with comparably less
> flavour. But this is not CTC tea.

First of all, their is no standardized grading system. In south Asia
BOP always graded as CTC tea. In this point, I know what I am talking
about. The Orthodox grading start from SFTGFOP1 China to OP1 or OP.
But BOP is a widely used CTC grading around South Asian tea growing
countries. Orthodox tea can never give the same strong, robust cup
compare to CTC (BOP or dust etc.) I am not saying CTC is better then
Orthodox. I am trying to explain, the reality and South Asian tea
culture.

>
> > Actually BOP is not a orthodox grade, this grading system is
> for CTC tea-
> BOP(Broken Orange Pekoe).
>
> This is wrong. BOP (Broken Orange Pekoe) has been used as a
> grade in orthodox manucfacturing for a very long time, even
> though it is nowadays also used for CTC teas. In Sri Lanka a BOP
> tea is usually "orthodox" Rotorvane-processed. However, due to
> market demand the BOP teas from Sri Lanka/Ceylon nowadays
> consist of much smaller particles than before, making them
> difficult to distinguish from BOPF (Fannings) and even Dust.

I am from Bangladesh and I was close to tea growing community, this
year in January2004 I was in Kolkata for some research about tea and
last year I was in Colombo- I never heard or seen BOP has been used as
Orthodox grading.


Ripon
Vienna,VA

On Thu, 29 Jul 2004 21:40:38 +0200, "Jon P Nossen"
> wrote:

>It probably means Flowery Pekoe. But I don't believe these
>gradings are very standardized.
>
>Jon
>

I asked my supplier, and he answered that FPEK is indeed FP, i.e.
Flowery Pekoe. In the quality season, it seems that some factory
managers goes for a fast and hard rolling programme and then
shortening the fermentation process. The aim is to capture as most of
the wanted flavour as possible.

The hard rolling can explain the appearance of my tea.

Lars
(Bergen, Norway)

On Thu, 29 Jul 2004 21:40:38 +0200, "Jon P Nossen"
> wrote:

>It probably means Flowery Pekoe. But I don't believe these
>gradings are very standardized.
>
>Jon
>

I asked my supplier, and he answered that FPEK is indeed FP, i.e.
Flowery Pekoe. In the quality season, it seems that some factory
managers goes for a fast and hard rolling programme and then
shortening the fermentation process. The aim is to capture as most of
the wanted flavour as possible.

The hard rolling can explain the appearance of my tea.

Lars
(Bergen, Norway)

On Thu, 29 Jul 2004 21:40:38 +0200, "Jon P Nossen"
> wrote:

>It probably means Flowery Pekoe. But I don't believe these
>gradings are very standardized.
>
>Jon
>

I asked my supplier, and he answered that FPEK is indeed FP, i.e.
Flowery Pekoe. In the quality season, it seems that some factory
managers goes for a fast and hard rolling programme and then
shortening the fermentation process. The aim is to capture as most of
the wanted flavour as possible.

The hard rolling can explain the appearance of my tea.

Lars
(Bergen, Norway)

Here is a U(gly)RL http://www.kmanibhai.com/black.html that suggests
you and the embedded auteur are both correct. What I've seen as BOP
in commercial brands is from mechanized Rotorvane ie broken irregular
and indistinguishable. Any labeling for BP is definitely broken leaf.
I just haven't seen any BOP that would even suggest a byproduct of
CTC. Any packaging simply states CTC and not CTC BOP. Probably CTC
uses the leaf more efficently to produce granulation than BOP but that
cost still isn't any cheaper on the shelves comparatively. I'd
probably buy a CTC over BOP all things being equal. The Taj Mahal CTC
Assam blend taste couldn't be accomplished using BOP. In the summer
for instant tea use CTC and tap water. The granulation falls to the
bottom, add ice and you drink off the top.

Jim

"Jon P Nossen" > wrote in message news:<uzvPc.4020$vH5.2744@amstwist00>...
> Ripon > wrote:
>
> > Sri Lanka produce a lot of CTC teas.
>
> As I just wrote, about 6 per cent of the Ceylon tea production
> is of the CTC type. Meaning that 94 per cent is "orthodox".
>
> > In domestic market CTC tea is the most popular one because
> local people like strong, robust cup.
>
> It's not that simple. A lot of the "orthodox" tea (namely that
> processed with the Rotorvane machine) is made into small
> particles which gives a strong, robust tea with comparably less
> flavour. But this is not CTC tea.
>
> > Actually BOP is not a orthodox grade, this grading system is
> for CTC tea-
> BOP(Broken Orange Pekoe).
>
> This is wrong. BOP (Broken Orange Pekoe) has been used as a
> grade in orthodox manucfacturing for a very long time, even
> though it is nowadays also used for CTC teas. In Sri Lanka a BOP
> tea is usually "orthodox" Rotorvane-processed. However, due to
> market demand the BOP teas from Sri Lanka/Ceylon nowadays
> consist of much smaller particles than before, making them
> difficult to distinguish from BOPF (Fannings) and even Dust.
>
> Jon (Oslo, Norway)

Here is a U(gly)RL http://www.kmanibhai.com/black.html that suggests
you and the embedded auteur are both correct. What I've seen as BOP
in commercial brands is from mechanized Rotorvane ie broken irregular
and indistinguishable. Any labeling for BP is definitely broken leaf.
I just haven't seen any BOP that would even suggest a byproduct of
CTC. Any packaging simply states CTC and not CTC BOP. Probably CTC
uses the leaf more efficently to produce granulation than BOP but that
cost still isn't any cheaper on the shelves comparatively. I'd
probably buy a CTC over BOP all things being equal. The Taj Mahal CTC
Assam blend taste couldn't be accomplished using BOP. In the summer
for instant tea use CTC and tap water. The granulation falls to the
bottom, add ice and you drink off the top.

Jim

"Jon P Nossen" > wrote in message news:<uzvPc.4020$vH5.2744@amstwist00>...
> Ripon > wrote:
>
> > Sri Lanka produce a lot of CTC teas.
>
> As I just wrote, about 6 per cent of the Ceylon tea production
> is of the CTC type. Meaning that 94 per cent is "orthodox".
>
> > In domestic market CTC tea is the most popular one because
> local people like strong, robust cup.
>
> It's not that simple. A lot of the "orthodox" tea (namely that
> processed with the Rotorvane machine) is made into small
> particles which gives a strong, robust tea with comparably less
> flavour. But this is not CTC tea.
>
> > Actually BOP is not a orthodox grade, this grading system is
> for CTC tea-
> BOP(Broken Orange Pekoe).
>
> This is wrong. BOP (Broken Orange Pekoe) has been used as a
> grade in orthodox manucfacturing for a very long time, even
> though it is nowadays also used for CTC teas. In Sri Lanka a BOP
> tea is usually "orthodox" Rotorvane-processed. However, due to
> market demand the BOP teas from Sri Lanka/Ceylon nowadays
> consist of much smaller particles than before, making them
> difficult to distinguish from BOPF (Fannings) and even Dust.
>
> Jon (Oslo, Norway)

This url indicates Ceylon grading
http://www.greenhillstea.com/exestate.html most of which I've seen in
commercial brands even including the suffixes. I've even got BOP SP
and can't tell the difference with BOP.

Jim

Lars Mehlum > wrote in message >. ..
> On Thu, 29 Jul 2004 21:40:38 +0200, "Jon P Nossen"
> > wrote:
>
> >It probably means Flowery Pekoe. But I don't believe these
> >gradings are very standardized.
> >
> >Jon
> >
>
> I asked my supplier, and he answered that FPEK is indeed FP, i.e.
> Flowery Pekoe. In the quality season, it seems that some factory
> managers goes for a fast and hard rolling programme and then
> shortening the fermentation process. The aim is to capture as most of
> the wanted flavour as possible.
>
> The hard rolling can explain the appearance of my tea.
>
> Lars
> (Bergen, Norway)

This url indicates Ceylon grading
http://www.greenhillstea.com/exestate.html most of which I've seen in
commercial brands even including the suffixes. I've even got BOP SP
and can't tell the difference with BOP.

Jim

Lars Mehlum > wrote in message >. ..
> On Thu, 29 Jul 2004 21:40:38 +0200, "Jon P Nossen"
> > wrote:
>
> >It probably means Flowery Pekoe. But I don't believe these
> >gradings are very standardized.
> >
> >Jon
> >
>
> I asked my supplier, and he answered that FPEK is indeed FP, i.e.
> Flowery Pekoe. In the quality season, it seems that some factory
> managers goes for a fast and hard rolling programme and then
> shortening the fermentation process. The aim is to capture as most of
> the wanted flavour as possible.
>
> The hard rolling can explain the appearance of my tea.
>
> Lars
> (Bergen, Norway)