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The leaf tea sells under the name FTGFOP1 which stands for Finest Tippy Golden Flowery Orange Pekoe. Additional words are added to the grade to further describe the tea. Some of the popular ones are as follows.

CH

It indicates that the tea has been made from old Chinese seeds bushes. Tea made from these bushes has its own distinctive character.

CL

Indicates the tea has been made from clonal bushes. They are the new generation’s teas and on an average they taste better than the ordinary ones.

The estates are now replacing the old bushes with these new clonal bushes. It however takes a long time for the young sapling to mature into fully grown bushes. On an average in the lower elevation it takes up to 9 years and in the highest elevation it takes up to 16 years.

GT

Indicates the tea is green tea. Green tea is manufactured in small quantities however; the demand for green tea is increasing on a year to year basis.

Additional abbreviations like Vintage, SPL (Special), SUP (Supreme), Classic, Muscatel are used to further describe the tea. These abbreviations are used carefully so that they do not loose its meaning.

The smaller grades are classified as broken and fanning’s. The nomenclatures of these grades are as follows.

TGBOP1 – Tippy Golden Broken Orange Pekoe

They are mostly consumed either in blended form with leaf or in tea bags.

(T)GOF, GOF – (Tippy) Golden Organge Fanning

They are mostly consumed in tea bags.