Tea Rolling Machine Manufacturers
Connect with verified tea rolling machine manufacturers on Towobo. Source orthodox tea rollers, CTC machines, and leaf-rolling equipment for black tea, green tea, oolong, and white tea processing factories.
Tea rolling machines — orthodox and CTC
Tea rolling is the process of mechanically manipulating the withered tea leaf to break and twist the leaf cells, releasing cell sap and enzymes that initiate or continue oxidation (fermentation in black tea). Rolling determines the leaf grade and structure of the finished tea. The two main rolling technologies are: orthodox rolling machines (a cylindrical rolling table with an eccentric rotating top plate presses and twists the withered leaf mass, rolling and twisting the leaf into the characteristic rolled orthodox tea shape — the rolling pressure and duration are adjusted for the type of tea; multiple rolling stages with roll-breaking (sifting to separate rolled and unrolled leaf) between stages produce different grades); and CTC machines (Cut, Tear, Curl — two counter-rotating serrated rollers process the withered or pre-rolled tea leaf, cutting, tearing, and curling it into small, uniform granules; CTC produces a tea grade suited for fast extraction in tea bags rather than the larger leaf grades of orthodox teas). For green tea, a kill-green (fixation) step — steam or pan-fixing — inactivates the oxidative enzymes before rolling, preventing fermentation and retaining the green colour.
Frequently asked questions
Can I produce both orthodox and CTC tea on the same rolling equipment?
Orthodox rolling machines and CTC machines are different pieces of equipment designed for different processes — they cannot be used interchangeably. Orthodox rolling produces twisted whole-leaf or broken-leaf tea grades; CTC machines produce small, granular tea particles. If you wish to produce both product types, you require separate dedicated machines for each process. Some tea factories do maintain both orthodox rollers and CTC lines, running different product lines on separate equipment. The choice of rolling technology is a fundamental product development decision that determines the tea grades and market segments you can serve.