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Teas

Tea production

Production

Black tea production is mainly differentiated into two methods, orthodox and CTC production:

Orthodox production

  • Careful picking
  • Wilting
  • Rolling
  • Fermenting
  • Drying
  • Sorting

CTC production

  • Picking
  • Wilting
  • CTC process (crushing, tearing, curling)

The result of CTC production process is a much smaller, globular tea leaf with a stronger taste compared to the orthodox production method.

There is a third production method which is rather less common. The so-called Lawrie Tea Processor indicates its inventor’s name. In the LTP procedure the tea leaves are cut by fast rotating blades. Then the other production stages like fermentation, drying and sorting follow.

Common leaf grades

  • Leaf
  • Broken
  • Fannings
  • Dust