Today, most
black teas produced use the CTC method or the closely related Rotorvane orthodox manufacture. CTC and Rotorvane orthodox have a finished product that is well suited for
tea bags, as the product quickly gives a dark brew. For many large tea producers, 80% to 90% of the factory's production is of small, broken, primary
grades suitable for tea bag blends; the remaining 10% to 20% are secondary grades which trade at a discount to the primary grades. The convenience, low price, strong liquor, generic flavor, and mild bitterness all have contributed to the near-monopoly that CTC-type teas now enjoy in South Asia. In the
Indian domestic market, this type of manufacture is by far the most popular – over 80% of tea production is of the CTC type. Also in the export market, particularly in the
CIS, the
Middle East, and in the
United Kingdom and
Ireland, CTC teas continue to be the ones most highly in demand. CTC teas generally produce a rich red-brown colour when they are boiled by the Indian method. The drawback of the CTC method is that it tends by its nature, and unfortunately by adulteration, to homogenize all black tea flavors. In the process of crushing, tearing and pelletising the tea leaves, pressures and stresses occur which break down the cells, releasing large amounts of the
phytins that normally
oxidise to produce black tea's
mahogany colour. Since, regardless of origin, CTC teas in their dry form are generically "tea-like" in aroma, and of almost identical, pelletized appearance, it is easy to adulterate a more expensive CTC-type tea with inexpensive and generally mild lowland teas of the same process. Different types of orthodox-processed whole and broken leaf teas, by contrast, look quite different from each other, making them more difficult to adulterate. ==See also==