Orthodox and CTC are basically the two major or the most popular styles of tea production in Indian Tea Market. The tea leaves produced by these methods are being given their respective names after their production styles.
Orthodox leaves production includes summing of methods which include plucking, withering, rolling, oxidation and drying. This is the traditional style of tea production hence, called Orthodox. On the other hand, CTC black tea is being processed by methods namely Crush, Tear and Curl. This process includes passage of the tea leaves through cylindrical rollers where the saw-edged blades cut, tear and curl the tea leaves into small shaped pellets.
How Can You Distinguish Them?
Orthodox and CTC black tea differ from each other in mainly 4 various ways which are as listed below:
- Method of Production
Orthodox teas are loose tea leaves produced using the traditional style (plucking, withering, rolling, oxidation and drying). CTC Black Tea requires more advanced methods starting from putting the leaves inside a cylindrical roller. This style includes cutting, tearing and curling.
- Intent of Production of the Teas
Orthodox tea preserves the singular virtue of the tea leaves. On the other hand, CTC focuses on the faster production sight keeping quality of tea in mind to meet the global market demand. As compared to CTC teas, Orthodox Tea requires a much greater care while handling or rolling as they are delicate and also prone to damage and adulteration.
- Methodology
Because of the traditional methods used while producing Orthodox tea leaves, the process requires a large human involvement and also consumes high amount of time which tends to make it exclusive. CTC on the other hand is production friendly and ensures quality beverage at faster rate hence, meeting the demand of global tea market. The second variety makes consumption much affordable making it available for all the consumers globally.
Now that you know, select your variant and start drinking down the most preferred varieties of Indian tea!
- Flavour Profiles of the Two Different Teas
If one opts for authenticity, orthodox teas produce more genuine tea experience as compared to CTC tea. Having a delicate flavor, the orthodox tea provides blending of all tea types making it more complex flavored. In addition, Orthodox tea also benefits its drinkers in positive ways, mainly regarding wellness and health. This is not much applicable in case of CTC tea. CTC teas have inclusive taste providing a distinct astringent flavor. That’s where CTC serves you when you want to have masala chai with some mixture of milk in it, right?
As informed about the Orthodox Tea and CTC Black Tea production, it shouldn’t be hard enough to interpret their price tags. The orthodox tea involving all the human intervention and focusing more on the preservation of the singular virtue makes it exclusive. Whereas, CTC teas are production friendly that uses advanced mechanisms to meet the demand of the global market. It makes it inclusive in nature.
Hence, the price gap between the two teas increases making orthodox tea much costlier than the CTC teas.
Hopefully, differences between these popular tea products are now clear to you. Which one would you prefer? A suggestion would be to try both and feel mesmerized!