Tips for Storing Tea So It Will Stay Fresh Longer
Tea can also absorb fragrance from other teas. It’s best to store 2 different teas separately and far away from one another. It can also absorb sweat from hands. Therefore, you should try not to use your hands to handle the tea. A clean and dry spoon is a better idea. Remember; don’t leave the spoon in the container. This can change the chemical structure of tea and alter its taste.
The tea should be kept out of the light in dark tin or aluminum container to prevent exposure to air and light. Glass and plastic containers are not recommended. Several great tea containers are tin-lined box, aluminum, or opaque ceramic pots.The dried leaves are sensitive to humidity. Tea can become rotten and turns yellow if it absorbs too much water. The container should be place in a room-temperature, cool and dry places to avoid humidity.
Specific tips for storing tea
Some people thought refrigerator as a cool place to store the tea. Not so. Often we have other foods in the refrigerator, the tea can just absorb whatever foods around it – significantly change its fragrance.
Another reason not to store tea in the refrigerator is the constant changes in temperature. The container gets hot when you take it out and cold when you put it back in. This can cause the tea rot pretty fast. The tea should only be filled 3/4 of the containers to prevent the dried tea from being crushed.
To avoid too much exposure to air via the opening and closing of the container, you should estimate the quantity of tea you will drink and place the tea in the smaller container for frequent use.If the tea is kept in proper containers and environment, it can be keep up to 15 months or more without changing its taste.The tea can stay fresh for 15 months only when you take every little caution in storing tea. But we are humans, not machine. We are bound to make mistake.
Storing tips for specific tea
1. Green tea is not oxidized during processing; it should be used within 4-6 months
2. Oolong and black tea are oxidized during processing; they should be used within 1 year.
When you want to clean the tea container, don’t use soap. The fragrance of soap can adhere to the containers for a long time, thus change the fragrance of the tea.
It’s best not to use water but to wipe the inside of the container with clean dry paper tower or cloth.
Last but not least, close the lit of tea tightly or wrap the container carefully before putting it back.
You can take every caution and follow every tip for storing tea. But if you forget to close the lit, all of the effort in keeping the tea fresh so far will be wasted…
