Editing Tea leaf grading (section)

====Etymology====
[[File:GoldenDianHong.jpg|thumb|A white tea with white "hairs" plainly visible on its surface.]]
The origin of the word "pekoe" is uncertain.  One explanation is that it is derived from the transliterated mispronunciation of the [[Amoy dialect|Amoy]] (Xiamen) dialect word for a Chinese tea known as "white down/hair" ([[white tea|白毫]]; {{zh|poj=''pe̍h-ho''}}).<ref name=TMMNM20>{{cite web
  |author=James Norwood Pratt |date=May 2002 |title=The Dutch Invent "Orange Pekoe"
  |url=https://www.teamuse.com/article_020501.html |access-date=2006-12-12
  |work=TeaMuse Monthly Newsletter
}}</ref> This is how "pekoe" is listed by Rev. [[Robert Morrison (missionary)|Robert Morrison]] (1782–1834) in his Chinese dictionary (1819) as one of the seven sorts of black tea "commonly known by Europeans".<ref>Rev. [[Robert Morrison (missionary)|Robert Morrison]], [https://archive.org/details/p2dictionaryofch01morruoft A dictionary of the Chinese language, vol. 1, pt. 2], pp. 3-4. Quote: "The sorts commonly known to Europeans are these, ... ; 4th, Pekoe, 白毫, Pih-haou; ...". The same text is reproduced in the [https://archive.org/details/dictionaryofchin00morr 1865 reprint].
</ref> This refers to the down-like white "hairs" on the leaf and also to the youngest leaf buds. Another hypothesis is that the term derives from the Chinese ''báihuā'' "white flower" ({{zh|c=白花|p=báihuā|poj=pe̍h-hoe}}), and refers to the bud content of pekoe tea.{{Citation needed|date=February 2021}}

Sir [[Thomas Lipton]], the 19th-century British tea magnate, is widely credited with popularizing, if not inventing, the term "orange pekoe", which seems to have no Chinese precedent, for Western markets. The "orange" in orange pekoe is sometimes mistaken to mean the tea has been flavoured with [[orange (fruit)|orange]], orange oils, or is otherwise associated with oranges. However, the orange fruit is unrelated to the tea's flavor.<ref name=StashOP /> There are two explanations for its meaning, though neither is definitive:

# The Dutch [[House of Orange-Nassau]], now the royal family, was already the most respected aristocratic family in the days of the [[Dutch Republic]] and came to control the ''de facto'' head of state position ([[Stadtholder]]) of Holland and Zealand. The [[Dutch East India Company]] played a central role in bringing tea to Europe and may have marketed the tea as "orange" to suggest association with the House of Orange.<ref name=TMMNM20 />
# Colour: the copper colour of a high-quality, oxidized leaf before drying, or the final bright orange colour of the dried pekoes in the finished tea may be related to the name.<ref>{{cite web |author=Gillards of Bath |year=2006 |title=Darjeeling teas |work=Gillards of Bath |url=http://www.gillards.co.uk/Tea_List.html |access-date=2006-12-12 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070111164837/http://www.gillards.co.uk/Tea_List.html |archive-date=2007-01-11}}</ref> These usually consist of one leaf bud and two leaves covered in fine, downy hair. The orange colour appears when the tea is fully oxidized.