Better quality tea can definitely be made from the leaf from the small growers, provided the small growers' farms are treated, helped and nurtured as their own plantation by the processing factories through proper planning and the factory is laid out and equipped in all respects for making quality tea and not just to make some black tea somehow. The other day, I was asked by a tea estate owner, about my opinion on reducing the speed of the 13" diameter fast Roller of CTC to 450 rpm from 550, whichis already a reduced speed, since sometime past in his factory in Assam, from the originally supplied rpm of about 650. On my enquiry, I came to understand that, this was suggested to him for improving the quality of tea. It also brought memories in my mind of the time in the late '80's, when I had to be at my convincing best to convince the estate management personnel of the tea group, I was serving as head of engineering, that the bigger diameter (13") rollers-being hailed as the best thing that had happened to the CTC machine since it's introduction by one Mr McArcher - for the same width of 30" or 36" with the incorporated higher surface speed differential as compared to that of the standard 8.5" diameter ones (at 720/72 rpm), can not as per scientific logic ensures the "same" quality, due to the very simple fact that, the maceration impact on the leaf would be that much higher with it's obvious different - detrimental, I deduced - effect on the quality, though admittedly would be capable of higher productivity. It was probably the reason that much earlier attempt to introduce bigger diameter rollers, reportedly called as "jumbo" rollers did not take off, as the market possibly was not in that sort of boom as it was in the eighties, to consume the produce quality, off those rollers, in bulk. My simple argument was that, if scientifically the result is not supposed to be better, then why spend 50-70 percent more and that, there are more pressing areas to spend for logical improvement.
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