CTC vs Orthodox Tea: What's the Difference?
Walk into any Assam tea garden and you'll hear two words constantly: CTC and Orthodox. Both start with the same leaf, picked from the same bushes, but the way each is processed after plucking changes almost everything about the tea in your cup — strength, appearance, brew time, and how it's traditionally used.
What is CTC Tea?
CTC stands for Crush, Tear, Curl — the mechanical process the leaves go through after withering. Rollers cut and tear the leaf into small, uniform granules, then curl them slightly before firing (drying). The result is small, dense, pellet-like tea that infuses quickly and produces a strong, brisk, full-bodied cup. This is the tea most commonly used for masala chai across India, since its strength holds up well against milk and spices.
What is Orthodox Tea?
Orthodox processing is the traditional, slower method: leaves are withered, then hand-rolled or lightly machine-rolled to twist them into long, whole or broken leaf shapes without crushing the cell structure as aggressively. This gentler handling preserves more of the leaf's natural oils and character, giving Orthodox tea a more layered, nuanced flavour — often described as smoother, with more visible tasting notes like malt, honey, or fruit depending on the flush.
Which Should You Choose?
If you drink your tea with milk and sugar, want a strong base for chai, or need quick, reliable strength, CTC is the practical choice. If you drink tea black or with minimal additions and want to actually taste the complexity of the leaf — its origin, the season it was picked, the estate's character — Orthodox is worth the slightly longer steep time and higher price point. Neither is objectively "better"; they're suited to different drinking styles.
Brewing Notes
CTC: 2-3 minutes, boiling water, holds up well to milk. Orthodox: 3-5 minutes, slightly below boiling for delicate flushes, best enjoyed without milk to appreciate the flavour.
Explore our CTC range and our Orthodox loose leaf collection to taste the difference for yourself.