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PROCESS OF MANUFACTURING TEA

The journey of quality tea starts from the lush tropical tea gardens where it is pickedfresh. The botanical name of the tea plant is “Camellia Sinensis” and it is cultivated at a

variety of tea gardens from China to Kenya.

CTC tea manufacturing follows a number of exacting steps, briefly described as follows:

Plucking – the journey begins

Pluckers are specially trained to only select 2 leaves and a bud, which then make up the

finest tea blends across the globe. The best quality teas are grown at tea gardens at analtitude of 5000 to 7000 feet above the sea level for optimum taste.

Withering- the next step

During the withering process, the leaf is induced to loose moisture substantially to

 prepare it for further processing. Normally this is carried out by spreading tea leaves

thinly on troughs through which warm air is circulated by fans. The average length of withering time depends greatly on the quality of the leaf peculiar to the region.

Cut Tear Curl (CTC)- the process

When satisfactory withering has taken place, the leaf is ready for rolling. This process

twists the leaf, breaks it up and extracts the juices. The CTC process of rolling is acomparatively rigorous one for the leaf, which is forced through a machine having two

steel rollers. The rollers have grooves which cut leaves as they pass through them. Leaves

 pass though 3 to 4 such rollers, getting reduced in size and their cells are ruptured toenable fermentation.

The nature of grooves in the CTC rollers determines the gradation of tea; BP1, PF1, PD

or D1 are the main categories. The process delivers much better, thicker liquor and yields

more cups of tea per kg of leaf as compared to the orthodox type of tea.

Fermentation- building character

 Normally the tea ferments or oxidizes from 60 to 100 minutes depending upon the leaf quality and on the prevailing climatic condition. Low humidity conditions retard

fermentation, hence cool humid condition are essential to enable larger retention time for fermentation. This produces blacker, grainy and heavier teas. The character of the tea

develops significantly during the fermentation process.

Drying – ready to be graded

The next process is known as drying. The objective of drying is to i) arrest fermentation

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and ii) remove moisture and produce teas with ideal qualities. The mass of leaf is exposed

to hot air when it passes through a chamber with perforated moving trays. The

temperature of the air blowing through the chamber is rigorously maintained. It takes 15to 30 minutes to dry the leaf, so the enzymes are fully deactivated. After completion of 

the drying process, the tea becomes fully black in color.

Sorting and Grading – quality is judged

Sorting is the operation in which tea granules are separated into various gradesconfirming to trade requirements. The process of sorting has two objectives a) to enhance

the value and b) to impart quality.

The basic sorting procedure follows a set pattern:-

i) While the tea is still relatively warm, it is first passed through the minimum of four slow speed electrostatic fiber extractors to clean it of floating fibers.

ii) The next stage is to divide the bulk tea into grades by passing through the meshes of 

24, 20, 16, 10 and 6 to establish the grades.

Storage and Packaging – ready for blending

Tea is a markedly hydroscopic material which mean while cooling and sorting it absorbs

moisture. Before packing tea, the accumulated series of daily batches of each grade are

 bulked and mixed to obtain the highest possible degree of unity. Before packing, tea is passed under powerful magnets to prevent possible pieces of iron mixing with the tea.

Packing is the process of preserving the product, using cost effective yet the most

appropriate material, taking into account the product properties and the specific needs of 

the end user.

Trading- selection and sampling

Tea is sold through private contracts or by auction system. The brokers taste the tea

samples, and set the value according to the market conditions.

Auction Process- the best is selected

The brokers then forward the samples to those companies who are entitled to operate inthe weekly auctions. Catalogues are printed with details of the tea gardens, grades etc.

The complete set of pre-auction samples, along with the catalogues, are sent to tea

companies like Tapal so they can taste, evaluate and bid on them in the auction.

Tea Procurement At Tapal – the choice of expertsThe skilled tea tasters at Tapal Tea perform the organoleptic tasting of nearly 700 cups

daily to select the best quality tea for various blends and procure them in the auction

through nominated suppliers. Purchased teas are transported through containerizedshipments from their country of origin to reach the factory in the best condition possible.