Generally, leaf grades are differentiated by whole leaf teas and broken teas. The small-leafed teas, which are cut during the repeated rolling process, are naturally very high yielding. The names of the grades are often very imaginative and vary even from plantation to plantation. They are always an expression referring to the leaf size and optic and only to a lesser extent do they address the taste (e.g., flowery), never, though, can they inform about the general quality of the tea. The quality judgement of the teas offered is always made during the tasting.

The most important grades in the whole leaf tea segment:

FOP - Flowery Orange Pekoe
GFOP - Golden Flowery Orange Pekoe
TGFOP - Tippy Golden Flowery Orange Pekoe

These groupings include a thin, wiry leaf with proportions of tips (these do not become brown during fermentation due to their low content of tannins).