What you are actually buying
Whole leaf orthodox black tea from the second flush, graded TGFOP. The leaves are rolled rather than cut, which is what orthodox means, and the golden flecks through the dry leaf are the tips the grade is named for.
Second flush runs roughly from late May into June. It is the pluck that gives Assam the malty character the region is known for. First flush is brisker and lighter, and the autumn flush is softer again. If someone hands you an Assam tea and it tastes of malt and bread and leaves a slight sweetness, it is almost certainly a second flush.
The grade, honestly
TGFOP stands for Tippy Golden Flowery Orange Pekoe. It describes leaf size and how many golden tips are in the batch. It does not describe how the tea tastes. A poor garden can sell a technically correct TGFOP that is dull in the cup, and a small garden can sell an unfussy grade that is excellent. The grade tells you what the leaf looks like, and that is all it has ever told anyone.
We explain the whole system, including why FTGFOP1 is not simply “better”, in Assam tea grades explained.
How to brew it
Boiling water, 100 degrees. Three to four minutes. Roughly 3 g per 200 ml.
Taken with milk, push it to four or five minutes and use more leaf. This tea is built for it. Taken black, stop at three minutes or the tannin runs ahead of the malt.
What it is not
It is not a first flush and we do not sell it as one. It is not from a single estate unless the pouch says which estate, and where it does, that name is checkable.
