Tea

CTC stands for crush, tear, curl — the process the leaf goes through after withering. Instead of being rolled whole, it is passed through cylinders that break it into small hard granules. That is what makes a CTC tea brew fast, brew strong, and take milk and sugar without disappearing.

What we pack. Assam CTC, brisk and malty, for the everyday morning pot. It is the tea for a rolling boil with milk and spices, not for a glass teapot — the granules give up their colour and strength in a couple of minutes, which is exactly wrong for delicate brewing and exactly right for chai.

Sizes. 250 g, 500 g and 1 kg. The kilo is the one most households come back for; the 250 g is the sensible size to try first or to give away.

Brewing it. For chai, bring water and milk to the boil together, add the tea, and let it roll for two to three minutes before straining. For a plain cup, one teaspoon in freshly boiled water for two minutes is enough — CTC will keep giving colour long after it has stopped giving anything pleasant, so go by time rather than by how dark it looks.

Keeping it. Tea takes on whatever it is stored next to. Keep the pack closed, keep it out of direct light, and keep it away from spices and coffee. The resealable pack is doing real work here — a tea left open in a kitchen loses its aroma within weeks and picks up the kitchen's instead.

Buying tea in a packaging catalogue. SwadAura runs two businesses, and this is the one where we are the producer rather than the supplier. If you are a tea brand rather than a tea drinker, the pouches on the other side of this site are the ones we make for people in your position — kraft and metallised stand-up pouches with a zip, in the sizes this tea itself is packed in.