The Invention of the CTC Process
Only the small tea leaves are allowed in the first tea bag. The tea industry cannot produce enough small grade teas to meet the growing demand for these bags. Producing large quantities of tea packaged in this way required a new manufacturing method.
CTC (short for "Cut, Tear and Curl") manufacturing was introduced to some Assamese tea plantations in the 1930's. The black tea produced in this way has a rich soup, which is a perfect match with milk and sugar.
The tea leaves pass through a series of cylindrical rollers with hundreds of tines, which crush, tear and crimp the tea leaves into small, hard particles. This replaces the final stage of traditional tea making, where the leaves are rolled into strips. The picture below shows our Breakfast Tea, a high quality CTC Assamese Loose Tea from Doomur Dullung - the base tea for our beloved Assamese Chocolate Tea Blend!
CTC Assam Loose Leaf Tea
CTC (or mamri) black tea from Assam is traditionally used in Masala Chai. They make a nice strong tea that isn't overpowering with spices and sweeteners. Check out and try our award-winning CTC teas here!
