How to store tea properly and keep it fresh longer

How to store tea properly and keep it fresh longer

How to store tea properly and keep it fresh longer

As a tea lover, imagine your tea leaves getting stale and losing their flavor due to improper storage. We know it is our biggest nightmare! However if we take just the right measures to protect it we can save ourselves from seeing the disastrous day of tea leaves spoilage. Just a few simple steps and we can save our delicate flavorsome tea leaves.

Most of us don’t know some of the simplest ways to store tea leaves and due to this limited knowledge a large amount of tea leaves go into waste. But wait, wait, you are not caught unaware as we have your back.

Here are some of the ways you can start implementing from today itself to protect your tea leaves from getting ruined and keeping them fresh for a long time.

 

How To Store Tea and Keep it Fresh longer?

Tea storing isn’t a very complicated process. There are some basic measures you’ll have to take in order to keep your tea fresh. We understand that nothing feels better than getting a cup of fresh tea. The aroma, the warmth, the authenticity, everything needs to be on point.

Let’s take a glimpse of some of the most effective methods of tea storing.

1. Buy good quality tea: Tea leaves are dry in nature and its freshness is determined by its smell. If you don’t buy good quality tea, then it will lose its aroma way faster than it should, making your tea taste abysmal. So, choose your tea wisely. Smell the leaves, have a good look at their size and then make a decision.

2. Buy in small quantities: Don’t buy tea in bulk. Prefer buying it in smaller quantities. This will not only make the process of storing tea easy for you but also manageable. When you buy it in large quantities, storing might become a little problematic, making the whole batch stale.  So buy accordingly, after looking at your consumption and the amount of people consuming it on a daily basis in your household.

3. Prevent it from light and heat: Oxidation is the process in which air, or oxygen, breaks down the integrity of an element and the element begins to decay. Light and heat are two things tea needs to be protected from most importantly. These two can activate enzymes which can spoil your tea very quickly. Make sure you store your tea in cupboards or at any place where light does not penetrate much and the place has a normal room temperature.

4. Use of proper containers: It’s very important to store your tea in an airtight container. You can use containers which are non-plastic and opaque. It's best to use ones which are made of glass, aluminum or tin.

5. Keep it away from strong smelling things: Make sure that your tea is not kept close to things which have a very strong smell, like red chili powder or turmeric. Tea is an absorbent and can easily catch the odor of strong smelling items.

Shelf life of different kinds of teas:

1.Flavored tea: Teas treated with flavorings, like an Earl Gray flavored with bergamot oil, have a shorter shelf life. It can stay fresh for around six months or a year.

2.Green, white and herbal teas: These teas are delicate and require more careful storage attention. It will remain fresh for up to a year if taken care of properly.

3.Oxidized teas: Darker teas, like oolong and black, that have been exposed to more oxygen in the production process are less sensitive to environmental factors and can last for upwards of two years if stored properly.

4.Pu-erh tea: This tea is the exception to the rule. Pu-erh is its own category of tea in which the tea leaves are allowed to age and undergo a natural fermentation process. So like wine, the flavor of pu-erh develops and changes over time. And also like a fine wine, the longer a pu-erh ages the better its flavor becomes. So most pu-erh tea can be stored (properly) indefinitely.

What should one do if the tea leaves get damp?

If you feel that the tea leaves have gotten damp you can let them sun dry.  However, this method has one major drawback. Ultraviolet rays can affect the tea. The smell will fade away and the taste will change.

So, one of the best ways to restore it is by  frying the tea with low-temperature micro-frying by iron pan, oven, microwave oven, etc. During this operation, it is necessary to turn the tea leaves from time to time until they are dry to emit tea aroma, and then seal it in a dry container.

So the key things you should take care of are:

  • Protect the tea from light.
  • Protect the tea from heat.
  • Make sure that the tea is stored at room temperature.
  • Protect it from odor pollution.
  • Take necessary steps to protect it from microorganisms.
  • Buy quality tea.
  • Buy small quantities of it.

Conclusion

The invigorating taste and the intoxicating aroma of the tea matters a lot. Just when the aroma hits the nose the mind gets blown away and what to say about the first sip, it's a feeling which can’t be put into words. ‘How to store tea?’ and ‘How to keep tea fresh?’ are now not a struggle anymore. 

Follow the above mentioned steps and go through the important details carefully. Make ‘tea storing’ a hassle free process and relish your perfect cup of tea. The Tea shelf sells 50gm and 100 gm packs of tea in an airtight container to maximize the freshness.

So don’t worry and enjoy fellow teaholics!!!

 

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