Aromatic, health benefits
The CTC process was invented in the 1930s by Sir William McKercher in Assam, India. The process spread in the 1950s throughout India and Africa. Today, most black tea produced around the world uses the CTC method. The finished product results in tea well-suited for tea bags is strongly flavored and quick to infuse. CTC tea actually refers to a method of processing black tea. Named for the process, "crush, tear, curl" (and sometimes called "cut, tear, curl") in which black tea leaves are run through a series of cylindrical rollers. The rollers have hundreds of sharp teeth that crush, tear, and curl the leaves. The rollers produce small, hard pellets made of tea. This CTC method is different from standard tea manufacturing, in which the tea leaves are simply rolled into strips. Tea made via this method is called CTC tea (and sometimes known as mamri tea).