Pekoe (pronounced pek-ho) is a tea that is made from small or young leaves. Orange pekoe is a particular type of tea of a particular colour harvested at a specific size from a particular part of the plant.
The highest grades for Western and South Asian teas are referred to as “orange pekoe“, and the lowest as “fannings” or “dust”. Pekoe tea grades are classified into various qualities, each determined by how many of the adjacent young leaves (two, one, or none) were picked along with the leaf buds. Top-quality pekoe grades consist of only the leaf buds, which are picked using the balls of the fingertips. Fingernails and mechanical tools are not used, to avoid bruising. Certain grades of leaf are better suited to certain varieties of tea. For example, most white tea is processed from the buds or shoots of the tea plant.
Tea leaf grading, Wikipedia
Overview of tea grading
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