CTC processing of tea

CTC processing technique is the abbreviation for crushing, tearing and curling. It started become popular in the 1930s. This machine mass produced a kind of ‘standardized tea.

It is a machine-processed tea which the leaves pass between tow sharpened rollers and the tea is heavily bruised and pulverized, resulting in uniform size of tea which look a lot like instant coffee. It is small particles that produce a quick brewing and strong tea.

After withering, which involves moisture removal up to the required level, tea leaves are fed into CTC machine.

The CTC machine consists of a pair of metal rollers running in close proximity at different speeds to process the withered leaves.

Leaf passing between the rollers is said to experience a crushing, tearing an curling action, hence the name CTC. The machine combines all the stages of tea processing in one.

The CTC processing method results in smaller fragments of leaf, which appear bright in the cup. CTC processing alters the flavor, and more important, the mouth-feel of the finished tea. It brews up quickly to give impatient tea drinkers color and strength in minutes.

Its greater standardization, poor ‘appearance’ but good liquor and a quick infusion, make CTC tea very suitable for the tea bag market.

Now a days, a CTC machine is widely used for the processing tea leaves.
CTC processing of tea