It's all about size

Tea Leaf Grades.

The letters, often seen alongside the name of a black tea, denote the leaf grade of that tea. Whilst this is guide to the quality of the tea, it is worth remembering that different countries, regions and indeed estates, have different selection processes and so there is not a universal standard as such that applies to all teas. However, the leaf grading system is a useful guide and has its own unique descriptions which we will explain.

Leaf grades - the process

Firstly it's worth mentioning a little about the actual leaf grading process. During the final processing of tea, the leaves are sorted or graded. They are passed through sifters that have graduated mesh sizes to divide them into different sized pieces. The experts make their classification of the tea not by the quality or taste, but by the appearance and size of the leaf pieces. That said, there is some confidence though the superior grades, skillfully determined by visual appearance, are almost always the finest quality when it comes to taste. The main two categories are 'leaf' grades and 'broken' grades. Leaf grades are the larger pieces left after the broken pieces have been sifted out.

Why is grading important?

Basically it is the size of the leaf that determines the strength, flavour and colour of the tea i.e. the infusion. The larger the leaf, the slower the rate of infusion. This of course means that the smaller the leaf the faster the rate of infusion, hence it is very important that leaf pieces for brewing a pot of tea are the same size.

Not just down to good looks!

You'd think taste must come into the process somewhere and of course it does. Once a tea garden has graded its teas by size the question of quality comes into play. There can be all sorts of influencing factors on quality, such as the weather or production process and these variations are reflected in the variations in price. Tea buyers have to taste a number of different teas before making their choice. A number 1 is often added after the grading letters to indicate the best of the best top quality tea.

The art of tea tasting

Tea tasting is, as you would imagine, an essential part of choosing the right teas for both tea brokers and tea blenders alike. Brokers are tasked with tasting the teas to assess their quality prior to auction whilst a master tea blender must decide which individual teas are needed to make a standard blend. The training involved to become a tea taster is a 5 year commitment, however many will tell you that even after several decades in the job, they are still learning the art. Preparation of the leaves prior to tasting is very important. Dry leaves are laid in containers in rows on a tasting bench. Each tea is weighed out specifically and placed in a special lidded brewing mug. Water is heated to the required temperature and then poured onto the tea. The length of infusion of the leaves in the water is very carefully timed after which the tea is poured into tasting bowls and the wet leaves tipped into the lid of the mug. Just as a wine taster, the master tea taster slurps the tea quickly into his mouth so that it hits the taste buds and then rolls the tea around his mouth to assess the flavour. Once done, the tea is spat into a spittoon. The skilled taster will assess the whole tea by taking into the account the appearance of the dried tea leaf, the wet leaves after infusion and the colour and quality of the resultant tea liquor.