SORTING. 135 



Society of India, Vol. XIV!), and, as his knowledge on 

 the subject is far in advance of mine, and consequently more 

 to the point than any description I could give, I will close 

 this chapter with the following extract from his valuable 

 pamphlet, and trust he will excuse my doing so : 



Of the Different Classes of Tea. 



Teas are arranged in various classes according to the size, make, 

 and colour of the leaf. I treat first and principally of the Black 

 descriptions, as Green Teas are manufactured in only a few of the 

 Tea-growing districts of India. 



The following classes come under the name of Black Tea : 

 Flowery Pekoe. g f Broken Pekoe. 



Orange Pekoe. 'o | Pekoe Dust. 



Pekoe. ^ ^' Broken Mixed Tea. 



Pekoe Souchong. g S \ Broken Souchong. 



Souchong. 

 Congou. 





Broken Leaf. 

 Fannings. 



Bohea. I Dust. 



We occasionally meet with other names, but they are generally 

 original, and ought not to be encouraged, as a few simple terms like 

 the above are sufficiently comprehensive to describe all classes 

 manufactured. 



Perhaps before entering into a detailed description of the various 

 classes it will be well to explain the term ' Pekoe ' (pronounced 

 Pek-oh), which as we see occurs in so many of the names above 

 quoted. It is said to be derived from the Chinese words ' Pak Ho,' 

 which are said to signify white down. The raw material constituting 

 Pekoe when manufactured is the young bud just shooting forth, or 

 the young leaf just expanded, which on minute examination will be 

 found to be covered with a whitish velvety down. On firing these 

 young leaves, the down simply undergoes a slight change in colour 

 to grey or greyish yellow, sometimes as far as a yellowish orange tint. 



When the prepared Tea consists entirely of greyish or greenish 

 greyish Pekoe, with no or very little dark leaf mixed, it is called 

 Flowery Pekoe. 



Flowery Pekoe is picked from the shrub entirely separate from 

 the other descriptions of Tea, only the buds and young leaves being 



