GRADING OF TEAS.
Black Teas, such as Oolongs and Congous, are graded as “Firsts,” “Seconds,” “Thirds,” “Fourths” and some times “Fifths,” denoting the respective pickings and grading in the order named. They are usually divided into “chops”—quantities bearing the brand or “chop-mark” of the grower or packer—and which are again sub-divided into “Lines,” “Marks” and “Numbers,” the latter rarely exceeding fifty packages. The term “chop” meaning in Chinese “contract,” which in the Tea trade is applied to a quantity of Tea frequently composed of the product of different gardens or districts and afterwards mixed together and made uniform before packing and forwarding to the shipping ports.
Green Teas are graded as Nos. 1, 2, 3 and 4, the former being applied to the choicest kinds, No. 2 to choice, No. 3 to medium, and 4 to the common grades.
Japan Teas are usually graded as “Common,” “Choice,” “Extra Choice” and “Choicest.”
India and Ceylon Teas are divided into “Breaks,” each separate picking being known in trade as a “flush” and graded accordingly. Nearly all the India and Ceylon Teas are first “bulked;” that is, the whole is run together in one heap and thoroughly mixed before being put up in the chests, this process having the advantage of insuring the regularity of the break or chop. The selection of India and Ceylon Teas for blending purposes is much more difficult than that of China and Japan Teas, greater care being required to avoid Teas that will not keep well as well as those which may possess any other objectionable peculiarity. The loss of strength and flavor is also much greater in some grades than in others, the kinds most affected being the too highly-fired Teas, the light-flavored Teas and those that possess a loose, rough or open leaf.