The art in tea starts here, with the tender shoots at the extremes of the evergreen shrub, Camellia Sinensis. Flavour and natural antioxidants are concentrated in the two leaves and bud; harvesting it is art because the men and women that pick these need to ensure they pinch off the bush only the two leaves and bud. The third and fourth leaf introduces an undesirable, coarseness to the tea.
For this reason, Dilmah stays true to handpicked tea from Ceylon, grown, picked and produced by us the traditional way. Expedients like machine harvesting as done in some countries, CTC manufacture as offered by most of the big brands, are only good for the producer for they do nothing but reduce cost. When the difference between a good cup of tea and an inferior one is just a few cents per cup, is there sense in trying to cut costs? (only if the brandonwer wishes to grow their profit maybe).
Enjoy it the way it has been appreciated for centuries, handpicked, produced in the traditional, orthodox manner.
4 comments
Bruce says:
Mar 2, 2009
A brilliant tea is a brilliant tea and – I feel with respect, Dilhan – that its greatness will not be effected by its production method, whether that method be Orthodox, Rotovane Orthodox, CTC or LTP. To my pallette, some of the greatest teas on earth that I’ve ever traded have been 2nd Flush Lowgrown Assam CTC, select East African Midgrown Dry Weather Seasonal CTC, PNG Highgrown Dry Weather Seasonal CTC and even one or two superb Lowgrown Ceylon CTC.
I prefer orthodox teas, personally speaking. But I acknowledge the great CTC teas I’ve seen in my lifetime.
And some places, if I may venture an idea, are better off making a mediocre CTC than attempting to make a mediocre Orthodox.
Tomasz says:
Mar 3, 2009
Interesting topic. I envy Bruce that he has seen the great CTC. There is no such thing available in my country. One finds a large choice of teabags with CTC inside on shelves here, but none gets close to even average orthodox. Of course it proves only that certain brands prefer to pack old and funny tasting tea, because it was cheaper, and whether it was CTC or orthodox did not matter.
After reading your text, Dilhan, and Bruce’s comment I went through all the books about the production techniques, looking for some logic in relation to quality. You may think that it is a comedy to look for logic in taste, I admit, but nevertheless, for me it is equally difficult to agree that a brilliant tea is achievable no matter how produced. Something may become brilliant in certain circumstances, at certain place. For example some wines are nice when tasted at particular place they were made, but not so much when you taste them back at home. What is the common situation? Are CTCs brilliant only sometimes? Are orthodox teas brilliant more frequently?
After my reading session, I have more questions instead of answers:
a) Where, and when the quality of tea (including the character) is born? At the field, as a result of agricultural skills, weather conditions, terroir? When picked? When processed?
b) If tea is plucked mechanically, can process improve the quality of leaf?
c) If tea is handpicked, but weather is bad, can process improve the quality, whether orthodox or CTC?
d) If leaf is perfect thanks to weather, and is fine handpicked, would orthodox process give better, reacher in taste and more interesting result than CTC process?
I remember reading in 1990′s an article in Tea International in which an Indian producer proudly announced that with CTC manufacture he achieved 100% usage of the picked material. The logical conclusion is that fine plucking was not his domain, but rather coarse or machine one. Since the highest percentage of the valuable caffeine and catechins is in a bud, less in first leaf, less in second, and so on, means that the quality of tea is born at field, and when plucked. For orthodox, two leaves and a bud would be picked mainly, while for CTC next leaves as well? If two leaves and a bud from the same shift and same field would be processed part – orthodox, and part- CTC, would there be difference in character?
Thanks for this discussion and hope you would help me find answers.
Dilhan says:
Mar 8, 2009
Thank you for your comments Bruce and Tomasz. In response to queries and comments in both, let me offer an explanation.
Our rejection of the CTC process is based on its inability to comprehensively represent that most valuable of aspects in tea – terroir. Certainly the power and pungency of Assam and some good Ceylon Teas comes through in this process, but that is rare and more a feature of the glorious past of tea than the present. We also value tradition in tea and believe that the orthodox process has most to offer tea drinkers who value sophistication and variety in tea.
Regarding quality, Tomasz it is not one or the other feature but all. The expression of quality in tea demands good soil, good field practices, good plucking, good manufacture, good packing and packaging material and it demands good water and good brewing. Disharmony in any one aspect can end in tea with the potential to be good, becoming mediocre or indeed bad.
Dilhan says:
Mar 8, 2009
Continuing my response to Tomasz, in response to your second query:
- ‘fine plucking’, meaning tea that is harvested with extreme care, can produce some wonderful results in terms of quality. The reason is that flavour, antioxidants, and the desirable character of tea is concentrated on the tender leaves and buds at the extremes of the tea plant; that is the fresh growth or ‘flush’. Handpicking or careful picking using hand operated shears, helps control the quality of the plucking and minimises the proportion of third and fourth leaves as well as twigs and other undesirable parts of the tea bush. The lower leaves and twigs introduce coarseness to the tea and affect its quality. When tea is mechanically harvested it is impossible to control the quality of leaf that goes into the process, even by shaping the tea bushes to suit the harvesting machine. Handpicking is therefore a very significant factor in the quality of tea, and it is a feature of Ceylon Tea.
- good quality leaf, both in terms of the quality of the picking (two leaves and bud) and in terms of the state of the leaf (the combined impact of rainfall, temperature, wind chill, humidity etc.) contribute to quality. If the condition of the bushes is poor and excessive rainfall or other factor cause poor quality, there is no harvesting method nor production technique that can salvage the quality of the teas.
- Certainly good quality tea, that is carefully handpicked will lend itself much better to traditional orthodox, than CTC manufacture. Unfortunately today that decision for a tea grower, is influenced equally by their desire for quality as by the demand for average, cheap teas. Certain producers in some countries are aligned to the production of tea in large quantity, disregarding quality, because that is what the packers that buy their teas, demand. It is a reality in the market, as you mention in your comment, that most brand owners are concerned about their profit, not about authenticity or quality in tea. That is ironic because for consumers it is all about the quality, freshness and authenticity – the story behind each tea.
- this leads me to the answer to your final question, which is that the CTC process is more efficient, in using most of the harvested material, being less critical of the quality of picking, and less expensive. It is in a sense the solution for packers who wish to have a cheap, uncomplicated, and standardized form of tea. The two processes vary fundamentally in that the orthodox is gentle, oriented towards bringing out the natural character and flavour in tea, emphasizing terroir. CTC is very different, and as the name Crush, Tear & Curl implies, is not gentle. The CTC process does not value the subtle sophistication that quality tea offers, but is aligned rather towards producing more homogenous, even and cheap teas. That may explain why brands owned by trading companies adopt this easier route – tea that is just tea. As a producer, we can never sacrifice variety, terroir and sophistication in tea, simple to make our lives easier and more profitable.
Thank you for your questions!