CTC (Crush, Tear, Curl)

Definition

CTC is a mechanical method of making black tea. After withering, the leaf passes through a series of stainless steel rollers with sharp teeth, turning at different speeds. The rollers crush, tear and curl the leaf into small particles, which then oxidize quickly and are dried into hard, dark granules. Leaf is often pre-processed through a rotorvane, a mincing machine, before the CTC rollers. The process was developed in Assam in the 1930s by William McKercher and spread widely after the Second World War, as demand grew for tea bags and fast-brewing, strong tea suited to milk. Today most black tea from India and nearly all of Kenya's large output is CTC. Other major CTC producers include Rwanda, Uganda, Tanzania, Malawi and Bangladesh. CTC tea maximizes surface area, so it infuses in one to three minutes with a dark, red-brown liquor, a heavy body and a brisk, malty taste. It loses the aroma complexity of whole leaf but gives consistent results at low cost and holds up to milk and sugar. It is the standard tea for Indian chai, British builder's tea and most supermarket tea bags.