Orange Pekoe (OP)

A grading term that refers to a size of leaf, rather than flavour. Orange Pekoe whole leaf teas consist of long, thin, wiry leaves which sometimes contain the tip. The resulting liquors are light or pale in colour.

The term is typically used in the tea industry to describe a basic medium grade black tea consisting of many single whole tea leaves of a specific size. However, in North America, it is commonly used to describe any generic black tea, and is often displayed to the consumer as though it were a specific variety of black tea.