Home / Ceylon Tea / Tea Processing
From Fresh Leaf
to Finished Tea.
The transformation from a freshly plucked leaf to the tea in your cup follows a process refined over more than 150 years, known across the industry as orthodox manufacture.
The Orthodox Process
Five Stages.
One Transformation.
Withering
Freshly plucked leaves are spread across withering troughs, where controlled airflow reduces moisture and softens them for rolling.
Rolling
Withered leaves are rolled to break their cell walls, releasing the enzymes and oils that shape a tea's colour, aroma and strength.
Fermentation
Rolled leaves oxidise under controlled temperature and humidity. It is this stage that develops the colour, aroma and character that define the finished tea.
Firing
Heated dryers halt fermentation at precisely the right moment, locking in flavour and reducing moisture for safe storage and export.
Grading & Sorting
The fired leaf is sorted into recognised trade grades, from whole-leaf orthodox to fine fannings and dust, ready for auction or dispatch.
From Factory Floor to Our Facility
Where Origin Processing Ends, Our Process Begins
Everything you've seen on this page happens at the estate or factory, where freshly plucked leaf is transformed into made tea. That finished tea is then graded and offered through the Colombo Tea Auction, where CTPE carefully selects teas that meet both our quality standards and the flavour profiles our customers are looking for. From there, our role begins: tasting, blending, packing and exporting tea that delivers consistency, shipment after shipment.