After the broken grades have been sifted out, what remains are the large leaves. In brewing, flavor and color come out of leaf grades more slowly than out of broken grades. Leaf grades are popular in continental Europe and in South America. Pekoe has shorter leaves than orange pekoe, and they are not as wiry. The liquid generally has more color.
Souchong has round leaves that make a pale liquid.
The smaller, broken leaves of the broken grades make up about 80 percent of the total crop. They make a darker, stronger tea than leaf grades and are the only kind used in tea bags. Broken orange pekoe is much smaller than the leaf grades. It usually contains bud leaf, the mainstay of a blend. Broken pekoe is slightly larger than broken orange pekoe with somewhat less color.