orange pekoe

American  

noun

1. a black tea composed of the smallest top leaves and grown in India and Ceylon.

2. any India or Ceylon tea of good quality.

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orange pekoe British  

noun

1. a superior grade of black tea made from the small leaves at the tips of the plant stems and growing in India and Sri Lanka

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Etymology

Origin of orange pekoe

First recorded in 1875–80

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

orange pekoe

The chain’s sweet tea is said to be a "refreshing blend of orange pekoe and pekoe cut black tea," which can range between 90 and 220 calories.

From Fox News ● Oct. 20, 2021

Sit for 90 minutes, have a cup of orange pekoe and feel satisfied.

From New York Times ● Jul. 5, 2013

There is leaf size to consider too: the term orange pekoe, for instance, has nothing to do with oranges but denotes whether the leaf is a bud or the tip of a bud.

From Time Magazine Archive

Tea gathered exclusively from buds and tips is called "flowery;" if the first young leaf be included, it is "orange pekoe."

From East of Suez Ceylon, India, China and Japan by Penfield, Frederic Courtland

She did a little high-art needle-work, played Mendelssohn's Lieder, sang three French chansons which her husband liked, slept, and drank orange pekoe.

From Vixen, Volume I. by Braddon, M. E. (Mary Elizabeth)