Walk into any serious tea shop in India and you will hear two letters repeated across the counter: BP and OF. Broken Pekoe and Orange Fannings. The Tea Board of India classifies Indian CTC (crush-tear-curl) tea into a hierarchy based on particle size and process — and these two grades sit at the heart of everyday Indian tea consumption. Understanding the difference is practical knowledge, not trivia.
How CTC grading works
CTC processing runs freshly withered leaf through rollers that crush, tear, and curl it into small uniform particles. The output is then sorted by particle size through a series of mesh screens — larger particles fall through later, smaller ones earlier. The classification that results:
- BOP (Broken Orange Pekoe) — largest CTC particle, 14–18 mesh
- BP (Broken Pekoe) — 16–20 mesh, the mainstream bulk grade
- BPS (Broken Pekoe Souchong) — 20–25 mesh
- OF (Orange Fannings) — 25–32 mesh, smaller and more uniform
- Dust (D) — smallest, fastest brewing, most aggressive
The numbers refer to the wire mesh size used in the sorting drum. A 20-mesh screen has 20 wires per inch; anything that falls through it but not through a 25-mesh screen is OF grade.
What the size difference means in the cup
BP grade brews in 3–4 minutes at 95°C. The larger particle means a slower, more controlled extraction. The liquor is typically:
- Deeper amber to copper in colour
- Fuller in body
- More nuanced — secondary flavours from the tippy portions of the leaf survive the CTC process
- Better suited to long steep times and high milk ratios
OF grade brews in 2–3 minutes. Faster extraction means:
- Bright, brisk, immediately strong
- Less body, more astringency
- Ideal for teabag formats where contact time is short
- Can turn bitter quickly if over-brewed
Which grade for which purpose
For kirana retail in northern and western India, BP outsells OF. Indian households brew loose tea in a pot for 3+ minutes with milk — the BP particle size is designed for exactly this method. Our Aburaj Premium Leaf and Devnagari Leaf grades are blended for this profile.
For teabag production, OF is preferred. The smaller particle fits the sachet, infuses within the 90-second average dip time, and releases immediately into hot water.
For bulk institutional buyers (canteens, railways, hotels), both grades are used — BP for boiled chai, OF for teabag service.
The quality inside the grade
Grade tells you particle size. It does not tell you quality. A BP from a poorly managed Assam garden in a bad season will produce a thin, lifeless cup. A BP from a well-managed estate in peak June flush will be remarkable. Grade is a processing classification; quality is a function of leaf condition, estate management, season, and blending.
At Aburaj, every BP and OF lot is liquor-tested before it is approved for blending. Grade is the entry requirement; the cup is the standard.
What to look for on a packet
The grade should be printed on any honest label. If you see only “CTC tea” with no grade specified, the packer is either blending across grades or hiding something. Aburaj prints the grade on every SKU. Our Premium Leaf and Fanning lines carry the same estate-sourced leaf — the only difference is the mesh size it passed through.