CTC Tea – Benefits, Grades & How is it Different from Orthodox Tea

Everything has evolved whit time. As we can take an easy example of Tea. Earlier people only used to drink black tea or milk tea. But now there are many different types of teas. Teas like green tea, honey tea, herbal tea, masala tea, yellow tea and many more. Today in this article we are going to know about a different type of tea which is CTC Tea. 

There are many people here who have never heard of this tea before. So in this article we are going to know everything about this CTC tea. What is the full form of this tea? Where does it come from? What are the benefits and downsides of this tea? And many more things. 

What is CTC Tea? 

CTC stand for Crush, Tear, Curl. Or the other full form of CTC is Cut, Tear, Curl. CTC is basically a method by which Black Tea is prepared. In this process the tea leaves passes through a series of cylindrical rollers. These rollers are consist of hundred of sharp teeth. These teeth crush, tear and curl the tea leaves into small and hard tea pellets. The tea which is produced by this method is known as CTC Tea or Mamri Tea. This process even replaces the last step of Orthodox tea, where the tea leaves are crushed into strips. 

The first CTC Tea machine was brought in India in 1930. The machine was brought by Sir William McKercher. He started this machine in the Amgoorie Tea Garden in Assam, India. Then it gain a huge profit in 1950 in Africa and India. 

As many other teas this tea also comes from Assam. Assam has been a home for teas about 200 years ago. But the two most oldest once are CTC Tea and Orthodox Tea. These both are tea processing steps. Now let’s see some difference between these two. 

Difference between CTC and Orthodox Tea 

Meaning

CTC Tea – Meaning of CTC Tea is same as the full form of CTC. The CTC stand for cut, tear, curl. This is a method to process black tea and make small and hard pellets. 

Orthodox Tea – As the name suggest it is a traditional way of blending the tea leaves. In this tea processing step hands are used. 

Flavors 

CTC Tea – CTC tea is offers a strong and dark taste. You can also drink this tea with milk or with lemon for better taste. 

Orthodox Tea – This tea only offers you the traditional flavors. Like black, green, white and oolong. 

Product Quality 

CTC Tea – The leaves of the CTC Tea are usually small in size. These leaves gives a very dark red color. 

Orthodox Tea – The leaves of this tea are usually large. These leaves are often called wiry whole leaf. 

Price

CTC Tea – The price of CTC tea is low. So that everyone can afford this tea. 

Orthodox Tea – This tea is prepared by the traditional ways. So it’s cost is high then compare to any other tea. 

Benefits of CTC Tea 

The CTC Tea not only give the consumer an amazing taste and aroma but it also provide so many health benefits. Some of them are: 

• Helps in control fat – This tea contains antioxidant that block the fat absorption in ones body. By this the consumer will stop gaining any kind of excessive weight. This tea not only control weight but also help in shedding weight. 
• Boost your digestive system – If you drink this after a heavy meal then it will helps you in digesting it properly. If you are facing any cramps in your stomach then just drink this tea it will reduce the cramps. 
• Helps to cure heart disease – Some research have shown that if you drink this tea twice a day then it will reduce the chances of heart attack. This tea contains antioxidant that reduces you stress level and helps you get relax. It also control your blood pressure. 
• Boost your energy – The CTC Tea contains high amount of caffeine them compare to other teas. This amount of caffeine will gives your body energy to do all your work without getting tired. 

Downside of CTC Tea 

The CTC tea means to crush tear and curls the tea leaves. This method causes the breakage of the tea leaves. The tea leaves contains many helpful antioxidant and many more ingredients that can improve your health. But when these leaves breaks down they losses their antioxidant. When they losses their antioxidant it becomes like any other normal black tea. 

In this process we basically break the tea leaves. When the tea leaves breaks then the become more oxidized which makes the tea flavor more stronger. It can also taste bitter sometimes. And many people will not like the bitter taste in their tea. 

CTC Tea Grades 

Grade of the tea refers to the size of the tea leaf and the type of the tea leaf used in making a particular tea. Let’s see some grades of the CTC tea: 

• BOP L – This stand for Broken Orange Pekoe Large. This quality tea gives you a good aroma with amazing colors. But it’s liquid quality is not very good. This quality of tea is not very famous. 
• BOP S – This stands for Broken Pekoe Souchong. This tea will gives you a better taste and colors. Many people like the taste and aroma of this tea. 
• BOP – This stands for Broken Orange Pekoe. Then compare to BOP L and BOP S this tea is much more good. The taste, aroma and colors are very good then compare to the other two. This tea is preferred in most houses. 
• BOP SM – This tea stand for Broken Orange Pekoe Small. This quality is similar to BOP. And this is also mostly used in household. 

Caffeine CTC Tea 

CTC tea is basically a kind of black tea. All the black teas contains caffeine. CTC tea contains approx 60 to 90mg of caffeine per cup. But there are many factors that can affect the amount of caffeine in a cup of tea. These factors can be the tea leaves, the temperature of the water or the time that tea takes in being prepared. CTC tea contains caffeine but it’s up to you how you make the tea.