CTC black tea and BOP black tea which is better? CTC black tea production process detailed explanation

Black tea, inadvertently made of oolong tea, was invented. Later, with the advent of the era of great navigation, black tea went to the more distant western world. Later, black tea became more and more popular, from royal relatives to ordinary people, drinking a cup of black tea every day.

However, the demand is so large, manual operation, how can we meet the needs of everyone?

Around 1930, W.Mckercher invented the automatic tea-making machine. The tea processed by this machine will become granulated.

And this machine is what we now know as the CTC machine.

CTC refers to CRUSH, TEAR, and CURL. Among them, CRUSH is crushed, TEAR is torn, and CURL is curled.

The CTC machine is composed of upper and lower rollers, which are engraved with grooves and blades, which can tear tea leaves and make round granular tea leaves.

A major feature of the tea treated by CTC machine is that the tea stalks will also be made into granules together, which can increase yield and efficiency.

Due to the existence of tea stalks, the taste of tea will also be affected by it, with a mellow and sweet astringent taste. The extraction speed of granular tea is fast, so it is suitable for making tea bags.

The procedure of CTC method

① withering

The CTC method also requires the removal of 30% to 40% of the moisture in the leaves and withering before processing.

② kneading and cutting

Immediately after withering, pour it into the kneading and cutting machine for preliminary chopping.

③ is poured into the CTC machine

The tea is poured between the upper and lower rollers with grooves, and the effect of crushing CRUSH, tearing TEAR and crimping CURL is achieved by means of roller pressure and staggered rollers.

At this time, the finished product is granular, with a size of about 1 to 3 mm.

④ fermentation

The tea treated by the CTC machine is lump, so it has to be poured into the sieving machine to unblock. After unblocking, it is piled up to a height of 5 to 6 centimeters and placed in an environment with a humidity of 70% to 80% and a temperature of 24 degrees Celsius to 25 degrees Celsius for 20 to 40 minutes of oxidation fermentation until the tea leaves turn charred.

⑤ drying

After fermentation, the tea is poured into the desiccant and dried at 95 degrees Celsius to 98 degrees Celsius for about 20 minutes, so that the tea leaves stop oxidation and fermentation.

⑥ screening

CTC tea is between 1 mm and 3 mm in diameter. In addition, non-granular and other fine leaves must be screened out so that they can be graded with a screen.