CTC stands for crush, tear, curl: a black tea process where leaves are shredded and rolled into dense pellets instead of being left whole. The result is a fast-extracting, highly tannic liquor that stands up to milk, sugar and spices.
CTC grades are the backbone of karak and masala chai across the Gulf and South Asia. The trade-off is a narrow extraction window: under-brewed it tastes thin, over-boiled it turns harshly bitter, and that window shifts with water, batch and operator.
The Base fixes CTC extraction at the factory, capturing the full tannic backbone in a soluble base with no boil time on the bar.
Read more: The Karak Tea Profit Playbook for HoReCa Operators
Related terms: Karak Chai, Brix, Premix
CTC grades are the backbone of karak and masala chai across the Gulf and South Asia. The trade-off is a narrow extraction window: under-brewed it tastes thin, over-boiled it turns harshly bitter, and that window shifts with water, batch and operator.
The Base fixes CTC extraction at the factory, capturing the full tannic backbone in a soluble base with no boil time on the bar.
Read more: The Karak Tea Profit Playbook for HoReCa Operators
Related terms: Karak Chai, Brix, Premix