Compare two teas
Side by side across seven dimensions. There is no verdict and no winner — the purpose is to understand the difference, not to be told which to buy.
CTC black tea
Black tea
Assam golden tips
Black tea
TeaHQ has written about this pair
The gap is real and it is not where most people think. It is almost entirely about leaf grade and freshness rather than about origin or price alone.
- Leaf
- CTC black tea: Small-particle CTC, manufactured for fast total extraction.Assam golden tips: Whole orthodox leaf, twisted and intact.
- What you can taste
- CTC black tea: Strength and colour. Origin is largely invisible.Assam golden tips: Garden, flush and grade, because extraction is gradual.
- Freshness
- CTC black tea: Often over a year old by purchase, and rarely dated.Assam golden tips: Usually dated, and the date usually matters.
- Cost per cup
- CTC black tea: Very low.Assam golden tips: Higher, though less than people expect once infusions are counted.
- What it is good at
- CTC black tea: Being reliable, strong and cheap, with milk.Assam golden tips: Being interesting, and much less forgiving of neglect.
In summary: Supermarket tea is not badly made. It is made to a different brief — strength and consistency at low cost — and it does that well. What it cannot do is taste of anywhere.
Point by point
| Dimension | CTC black tea | Assam golden tips |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Black tea · fully oxidised | Black tea · fully oxidised |
| Production | In order: Withering → CTC (crush, tear, curl) → Oxidation → Drying. year round harvest. | In order: Withering → Rolling and shaping → Oxidation → Drying. bud and one leaf and second flush harvest. |
| Origin | Not recorded for this tea. Blends have components rather than a place. | India — Assam |
| Flavour | roasted. full bodied, astringent and drying in the mouth. Aroma: brisk malt, stewed fruit. Straightforward in character. Bold in intensity. | chocolate, fruity and sweet. full bodied, rich and smooth in the mouth. Aroma: malt, honey, raisin, cocoa. Layered in character. Bold in intensity. |
| Brewing | Western brewing (teapot or mug): 1–1.5 g/100 ml at 98–100 °C, first steep 150s. Tea bag brewing: 1–1.5 g/100 ml at 95–100 °C, first steep 150s. Hong Kong milk tea (sock-strained): 3–5 g/100 ml at 95–100 °C, first steep 480s. Sweet tea (American Southern style): 4–6 g/100 ml at 95–100 °C, first steep 300s. Chai preparation: 2–3 g/100 ml at 98–100 °C, first steep 270s. | Western brewing (teapot or mug): 1–1.5 g/100 ml at 95–100 °C, first steep 210s. Mug infuser brewing: 1–1.6 g/100 ml at 90–96 °C, first steep 210s. |
| Cultural context | Used in British everyday tea drinking, Chai culture in India, Chaiwallah and street tea culture, Cha chaan teng culture, Pakistani tea customs, Teh tarik and mamak stall culture, Irish tea drinking, East African chai customs, Sweet tea in the American South, The tea auction system, The kulhar and railway chai, Irani cafés and their chai, Adda and the Bengali tea stall, Assam’s tea garden communities, Nepali tea customs, Bangladeshi tea customs, The Lhasa sweet tea house, Suja and ngaja in Bhutan, Kazakh tea hospitality, Egyptian shai: koshary and saidi, The tea break, Iced tea in the United States, Once — the Chilean tea meal, Cha yen and the Thai tea stall and Karak chai in the Gulf. | Not recorded for this tea. |
| Who may prefer it | Someone who wants the cup to assert itself and wants to enjoy it on the first cup. It tolerates an imprecise brew and takes milk. | Someone who wants the cup to assert itself and wants to enjoy it on the first cup. It tolerates an imprecise brew and is traditionally drunk plain. |
Nothing above is a recommendation. The last row describes the drinker each tea suits, using each tea’s own authored fields and the same sentence structure for both, so neither can be framed as the safe choice.