Crush, tear, curl
A machine that cuts leaf into small hard granules instead of rolling it, invented in Assam in the early 1930s. Most of the tea drunk in the world is made this way, and almost nobody who drinks it knows the word.
The early 1930s
Within this decade. Placed within the decade with confidence, and no closer than that.
TeaHQ synthesis. TeaHQ's own reading of well-attested general knowledge, with no single source behind it.
The version that circulates
That CTC is a lower grade of the same manufacture as loose leaf, or that it is simply broken tea.
What the evidence carries. That it is a distinct manufacturing route with its own machinery, producing a product designed for a purpose that orthodox leaf serves badly. Whether it is worse depends entirely on what the tea is for, and a strong milky cup made in two minutes is a thing orthodox leaf is not very good at.
What happened
Leaf is passed between counter-rotating rollers with serrated surfaces that crush, tear and curl it into small dense granules. Oxidation runs faster because the leaf is comprehensively ruptured, and the result brews very quickly and very strongly.
Why it matters
CTC is the reason a tea bag works. Granules extract in one to three minutes into a strong coloured liquor that stands up to milk, which is exactly what a bag in a mug needs, and it is why the format and the manufacture spread together. It is also the majority of Indian, Kenyan and African production by a wide margin.
Who was involved
William McKercher
personDeveloped the CTC machine at an Assam estate
Connected events
- From the 1870s — Tea manufacture is mechanised
- Patented 1903; the Sullivan story is set around 1908 — Where the tea bag actually came from
- From the early 1900s, with the smallholder agency founded in the 1960s — Tea planted in Kenya, and the smallholder turn
What this touches
Producing countries
Compiled from published sources by people who are not historians of this region or period. Where accounts conflict the disagreement is reported rather than settled.