► 89% of the tea consumed in Canada is black tea.

 

► Current research shows that tea contains powerful antioxidants, which play a role in lowering the risk of heart disease and certain types of cancer.

 

► One cup of tea has 34mg of caffeine and one cup of coffee has 99mg.

 

► 1 oz. = 28 grams

 

► The tea plant, originally called Thea sinensis in 1753 but now called Camellia sinensis, is a flowering evergreen shrub.

 

► Canadians drink more than 7 billion cups of tea each year.

 

► "The agony of the leaf" means the slow unfolding of the tea leaf, the release of its flavour, tannins and caffeine.

 

► "Orange Pekoe", "Broken Orange Pekoe" does not refer to the type of tea but it is referring only to leaf size.

 

► Most historians agree that the earliest credible record of tea cultivation was in 350 A.D.  In the Erh Ya, an ancient dictionary, the definition for tea is "a beverage made from the leaves by boiling".

 

 Grade terminology:
 
Whole leaf grades - The grades for whole leaf orthodox BLACK TEA are:
OP - Orange Pekoe - Main grade in tea production. Can consist of long wiry leaf without tips.
OP sup - Orange Pekoe Superior - Primarily from Indonesia. Similar to OP.
F OP - Flowery Orange Pekoe - High-quality tea with a long leaf and few tips. Considered the second grade in Assam, Dooars, and Bangladesh teas, but the first grade in China
F OP1 - Flowery Orange Pekoe First Grade Leaves - As above but with only the highest quality leaves in the F.O.P classification
GF OP1 - Golden Flowery Orange Pekoe First Grade Leaves- Higher proportion of tip than FOP Top grade in Milima and Marinyn regions; Uncommon in Assam and Darjeeling.
TGF OP - Tippy Golden Flowery Orange Pekoe - Tea with the highest proportion of tip; Main grade in Darjeeling and Assam.
TGF OP1 - Tippy Golden Flowery Orange Pekoe - As above, but with only the highest quality leave in the T.G.F.O.P classification
FTGF OP - Finest Tippy Golden Flowery Orange Pekoe - Highest quality grade (Note: "Special" is occasionally substituted for "Finest", with a number 1 at the end to indicate the very finest) . Often hand processed and produced at only the best plantations. Roughly one quarter tips.
SFTGFOP(1) - Special Finest Tippy Golden Flowery Orange Pekoe is sometimes used to indicate the very finest.
 
A joke among tea aficionados is that "FTGFOP" stands for "Far Too Good For Ordinary People".
 
Broken leaf grades:
BT - Broken Tea - Usually a black, open, fleshy leaf that is very bulky. Classification used in Sumatra, Sri Lanka, and some parts of Southern India.
BP - Broken Pekoe- Most common broken pekoe grade. From Indonesia, Ceylon, and Southern India.
BPS - Broken Pekoe Souchong - Term for broken pekoe in Assam and Darjeeling.
FP - Flowery Pekoe - High-quality pekoe. Usually coarser with a fleshier, broken leaf. Produced in Ceylon and Southern India, as well as in some parts of Kenya.
BOP - Broken Orange Pekoe - Main broken grade. Prevalent in Ceylon, Southern India, Java, and China.
F BOP - Flowery Broken Orange Pekoe - Coarser and broken with some tips. From Assam, Ceylon, Indonesia, China, and Bangladesh. In South America coarser, black broken.
F BOP F - Finest Broken Orange Pekoe Flowery - The finest broken orange pekoe. Higher proportion of tips. Mainly from Ceylon's "low districts".
G BOP - Golden Broken Orange Pekoe - Second grade tea with uneven leaves and few tips.
GF BOP1 - Golden Flowery Broken Orange Pekoe 1 - As above, but with only the highest quality leaves in the GFBOP classification.
TGF BOP1 - Tippy Golden Flowery Broken Orange Pekoe 1 - High-quality leaves with a high proportion of tips. Finest broken First Grade Leaves in Darjeeling and some parts of Assam.
 
Fannings grades:
PF - Pekoe Fannings -
OF - Orange Fannings - From Northern India and some parts of Africa and South America.
FOF - Flowery Orange Fannings - Common in Assam, Dooars, and Bangladesh. Some leaf sizes come close to the smaller broken grades.
GFOF - Golden Flowery Orange Fannings- Finest grade in Darjeeling for tea bag production.
TGFOF - Tippy Golden Flowery Orange Fannings.
BOPF - Broken Orange Pekoe Fannings - Main grade in Ceylon, Indonesia, Southern India, Kenya, Mozambique, Bangladesh, and China. Black-leaf tea with few added ingredients, uniform particle size, and no tips.