BOM Green Tea from Vietnam: Leaf, Liquor and Buying Guide

3 October 2026

BOM green tea is one of the whole-leaf green teas we make at Goo Farm in northern Vietnam: big, young leaves rolled into loose curls and small balls, brewing a bright green liquor with a strong, fresh, vegetal taste. Buyers choose it when they want a green tea that looks generous in the pack and still tastes strong in the cup. This guide explains what BOM green tea is, what a good BOM sample looks like in the leaf and in the cup, how it compares with OP, OPA, Pekoe and Madina, what it is used for, how much fits in a container and how to buy it in bulk.

What BOM green tea is

Green tea is not oxidized. After plucking, the fresh leaf is heated to stop oxidation, then rolled, dried and sorted by the size and shape of the leaf. The large, well-rolled leaves become the whole-leaf grades. BOM is one of them, together with OP, OPA, Pekoe and Madina in our green tea range.

Green tea grade names are trade names, and producers do not all use them the same way, so the name alone tells you little. What defines BOM is the leaf. BOM Green Tea is made from big, young leaves, and our specification reads:

• Appearance: big and well-rolled leaves
• Liquor: bright green
• Aroma: fresh and clean
• Flavor: strong and vegetal, with a distinct bitterness and mild astringency

What a good BOM sample looks like

The photo below is a BOM sample from our cupping table: the dry leaf next to a ruler, the liquor in the cup and the infused leaf in the bowl. These are the three things to check when a BOM sample arrives.

The dry leaf

Most pieces are roughly 0.5 to 1.5 cm across. The leaves are rolled into loose curls, twists and small balls, more open than gunpowder-style pellets. The color is dark olive green with lighter yellow-green edges. Look for an even size, few broken pieces or dust at the bottom of the bag, little stalk and no foreign matter. If a sample has much more dust or stalk than you expected, ask about it before you order.

The liquor

The liquor should be clear and bright: green with a yellow tint, as in the cup above. A dull, cloudy or brownish liquor usually means old tea, heat damage or poor storage. The aroma should be fresh and clean, with no stale, musty or burnt notes.

The infused leaf

After brewing, BOM opens into large leaves and leaf pieces of an even green color, with a few tender stalks. Large open leaves show that the grade is made from whole leaf rather than broken pieces. Reddish or brown patches on the infused leaf point to bruised or partly oxidized leaf.

How to taste a BOM sample

Brew every sample the same way and side by side, so that the only difference is the tea. A simple method is 3 g of leaf in 150 ml of water at about 85 °C for 3 minutes. Then brew it the way your customers drink it: longer and stronger for a strong cup, or with fresh mint and sugar if you sell to the mint tea trade. A strong green tea should still taste of tea after the mint and sugar go in.

Taste a second infusion as well. A good whole-leaf green tea still gives color and taste the second time; a sample that is empty after one infusion will disappoint your customers.

Write down the color, aroma, strength and bitterness of each sample, and compare BOM with the tea you buy today. The sample you approve becomes the standard for your order, and every order we ship is the same as or better than the approved sample.

BOM compared with other whole-leaf green tea grades

All our whole-leaf green teas have a fresh, clean aroma. They differ in the shape of the leaf, the color of the liquor and how much tea fits in a container:

• OP Green Tea: big, well-rolled leaves like BOM and the same strong, vegetal taste, but a bright yellow liquor. About 17 tons per 40HC. OP is also the base of our Jasmine OP Green Tea.
• OPA Green Tea: large, slightly open leaves and a bright yellow liquor. About 14 tons per 40HC, the same as BOM.
• Pekoe Green Tea: well-rolled, bright green leaves and a bright green liquor. About 18 tons per 40HC.
• Madina Green Tea: leaves rolled tightly like gunpowder green tea, a green liquor and a full-bodied taste with mild astringency. Because the leaf is tight and dense, about 25 tons fit in a 40HC.

In short: choose BOM when you want big leaf and a green rather than yellow liquor; choose Madina when you want a tight, gunpowder-style roll and more tea per container. For the smaller grades (broken, fannings and dust), see our guide to Vietnamese green tea grades.

What BOM green tea is used for

• Loose-leaf green tea: big, rolled leaf looks generous in a retail pack, so BOM suits tea that is sold on its appearance.
• Strong everyday green tea: the strong, vegetal taste with a distinct bitterness suits customers who drink green tea strong and often.
• Mint tea: in North Africa, green tea is brewed strong with fresh mint and plenty of sugar. A strong grade such as BOM is worth sampling for this trade.
• Blends: whole-leaf grades carry flavor well, so BOM can be the base of mint or other flavored green tea blends.

BOM is not usually a tea bag grade, because the big leaf does not fill a bag evenly. For tea bags, choose BPS, PS or fannings.

Among our markets, green tea sells mainly in North Africa and Central Asia, and we have exported tea to more than 30 countries. Each market brews differently, so tell us how your customers drink their tea and we will suggest the grades to sample next to BOM.

Container loading and packing

BOM is a large, open leaf, so it is bulky. With standard packing, a 40-foot high cube (40HC) container holds about 14 tons of BOM, the same as OPA, compared with about 17 tons of OP, 18 tons of Pekoe and 25 tons of Madina. These figures are for reference only; we confirm the exact quantity once we know your grade and packing. See the full table on our packing and loading page.

For export, BOM is usually packed in:

• PP/PE bags: woven polypropylene bags with a polyethylene inner liner
• Kraft paper sacks, stacked on pallets for container loading
• Export cartons with an inner liner
• Vacuum aluminum bags inside export cartons, for the longest shelf life

We also pack under your own brand: custom-printed bulk bags and retail packs such as printed boxes, zip pouches, aluminum bags and tins. Tell us the pack size and the design, and we will quote the packing together with the tea.

Where our BOM green tea comes from

Our green tea is made from fresh leaf grown in Phu Tho, Yen Bai, Ha Giang, Moc Chau, Lai Chau, Lao Cai, Thai Nguyen and Nghe An, and processed at our factories in Phu Tho and Yen Bai. The Yen Bai factory is certified to ISO 22000:2018 for the manufacturing and trading of dried tea.

Frequently asked questions

What does BOM mean in green tea? BOM is the name of a grade, not a standard, and different producers use grade names differently. In our range it means a whole-leaf green tea of big, well-rolled leaves with a bright green liquor and a strong, vegetal taste. Judge it by the sample, not by the name.

Is BOM the same as gunpowder green tea? No. Gunpowder tea is rolled into small, tight pellets; BOM is bigger and more loosely rolled. Our grade closest to gunpowder is Madina Green Tea.

What is the difference between BOM and OPA? Both are large-leaf grades, and both load about 14 tons per 40HC. OPA has slightly open leaves and a bright yellow liquor; BOM has well-rolled leaves and a bright green liquor.

How much BOM green tea fits in a 40HC container? About 14 tons with standard packing. We confirm the exact quantity for your packing.

Can BOM be used in tea bags? It is not the usual choice, because the big leaf does not fill a bag evenly. For tea bags, choose BPS, PS or fannings.

Can you pack BOM green tea under my brand? Yes: custom-printed bulk bags and private-label retail packs. See packing and loading.

Do you send samples? Yes. Tell us the grades you are considering, and we will send samples with a specification sheet.

Request samples and a quotation

Tell us the quantity, the packing and your destination, and we will reply with BOM samples and a quotation, together with OP, OPA or Madina if you want to compare. Contact us, see the BOM Green Tea product page, or browse all our green tea grades.