2,088
edits
Changes
Jump to navigation
Jump to search
m
1 revision: Category Tea
{{Unreferenced|date=April 2009}}
[[File:Assam CTC Hanamizuki 2009.JPG|thumb|Black tea produced through CTC processing]]
'''Crush, Tear, and Curl''' (also '''Cut, Twist, Curl''') is a method of processing [[black]] [[tea]], similar to that of [[tea processing|orthodox tea manufacture]]. Instead of the leaves being rolled as a final stage, they are passed through a series of cylindrical rollers with hundreds of small sharp "teeth" that Crush, Tear, and Curl.
CTC was invented by W. McKertcher during 1930-1931, and the process spread in the 1950s through the 1970s, most rapidly in [[India]] and [[Africa]]. Today, most black teas produced use the CTC method or the closely related rotovane orthodox manufacture. CTC and rotovane orthodox have a finished product that is well suited for tea bags, as the product quickly gives a dark brew.
For many large tea producers, 80% to 90% of the factory's production is of small, broken, primary grades suitable for tea bag blends; the remaining 10% to 20% are secondary grades which trade at a discount to the primary grades. The convenience, low price, strong liquor, generic flavor, and mild bitterness all have contributed to the near-monopoly that CTC-type teas now enjoy in South Asia.
In the Indian domestic market, this type of manufacture is by far the most popular - over 80% of tea production is of the CTC type. In the export market, particularly in the [[C.I.S.]], [[the Middle East]], [[United Kingdom]] and [[Ireland]], CTC teas continue to be the most highly in demand.
CTC teas generally produce a rich red-brown color when they are boiled by the Indian method. The drawback of the CTC method is that it tends by its nature, and unfortunately by adulteration, to homogenize all black tea flavors. In the process of crushing, tearing and pelletizing the tea leaves, large pressures and stresses occur which break down the cells, releasing large amounts of the phytins that normally oxidize to produce black tea's mahogany color. Since, regardless of origin, CTC teas in their dry form are generically "tea-like" in aroma, very similar in pelletized form, it is very easy to adulterate a more expensive CTC-type tea with inexpensive and generally mild lowland teas of the same process. Whole and broken leaf teas by contrast are quite varied in appearance, making adulteration more difficult.
There is some question whether the CTC processed teas retain much (or any) of the widely referenced polyphenyls and other bio-reactive compounds that are thought to have positive herbal effects.
==See also==
* [[Nilgiri tea]]
==External links==
*[http://www.teaandcoffee.net/1109/tea.htm From the Field to the Cup]
*[http://www.alanmacfarlane.com/tea/cuttearcurl.html Factory Production of Tea (1)]
[[Category:Tea]]
[[de:Crush, Tear, Curl]]
[[ja:Crush, Tear and Curl]]
[[uk:Гранульований чай]]
[[File:Assam CTC Hanamizuki 2009.JPG|thumb|Black tea produced through CTC processing]]
'''Crush, Tear, and Curl''' (also '''Cut, Twist, Curl''') is a method of processing [[black]] [[tea]], similar to that of [[tea processing|orthodox tea manufacture]]. Instead of the leaves being rolled as a final stage, they are passed through a series of cylindrical rollers with hundreds of small sharp "teeth" that Crush, Tear, and Curl.
CTC was invented by W. McKertcher during 1930-1931, and the process spread in the 1950s through the 1970s, most rapidly in [[India]] and [[Africa]]. Today, most black teas produced use the CTC method or the closely related rotovane orthodox manufacture. CTC and rotovane orthodox have a finished product that is well suited for tea bags, as the product quickly gives a dark brew.
For many large tea producers, 80% to 90% of the factory's production is of small, broken, primary grades suitable for tea bag blends; the remaining 10% to 20% are secondary grades which trade at a discount to the primary grades. The convenience, low price, strong liquor, generic flavor, and mild bitterness all have contributed to the near-monopoly that CTC-type teas now enjoy in South Asia.
In the Indian domestic market, this type of manufacture is by far the most popular - over 80% of tea production is of the CTC type. In the export market, particularly in the [[C.I.S.]], [[the Middle East]], [[United Kingdom]] and [[Ireland]], CTC teas continue to be the most highly in demand.
CTC teas generally produce a rich red-brown color when they are boiled by the Indian method. The drawback of the CTC method is that it tends by its nature, and unfortunately by adulteration, to homogenize all black tea flavors. In the process of crushing, tearing and pelletizing the tea leaves, large pressures and stresses occur which break down the cells, releasing large amounts of the phytins that normally oxidize to produce black tea's mahogany color. Since, regardless of origin, CTC teas in their dry form are generically "tea-like" in aroma, very similar in pelletized form, it is very easy to adulterate a more expensive CTC-type tea with inexpensive and generally mild lowland teas of the same process. Whole and broken leaf teas by contrast are quite varied in appearance, making adulteration more difficult.
There is some question whether the CTC processed teas retain much (or any) of the widely referenced polyphenyls and other bio-reactive compounds that are thought to have positive herbal effects.
==See also==
* [[Nilgiri tea]]
==External links==
*[http://www.teaandcoffee.net/1109/tea.htm From the Field to the Cup]
*[http://www.alanmacfarlane.com/tea/cuttearcurl.html Factory Production of Tea (1)]
[[Category:Tea]]
[[de:Crush, Tear, Curl]]
[[ja:Crush, Tear and Curl]]
[[uk:Гранульований чай]]