AGAIN - Storage of Tea

Hiya Mary,

Testy?!? How dare you! (I'm just kidding by the way :) It isn't about being testy just real. This isn't the place to try to lie to promote some business or ripoffs or scams, it is a place to talk tea with a serious, diverse, and good mix of characters. I think if you stick around you'll see how it truly is. We're all here to help and to learn, no matter how long we've been at it.

As for storage what you have will work but is not optimal. Those jars don't always seal the best and the rubber seal can impart a bit of a taste sometimes. Also, airing out is bad. The oils dry out of the leaves and it becomes stale.

I keep two containers for each of my teas that I keep in any quantity, one small food-grade glass jar with a tight fitting screw on lid and one big one. I only transfer from the big to the small one to refill it which keeps it as fresh as possible since it stays mostly closed. I also keep them in a cupboard to keep light out and a constant temperature and humidity.

There are stainless steel tea tins, and it is nice to find the double seal type. They work very well.

As for the white tea, you could try to make iced tea from it. It pairs well with lighter fruit flavors, like honeydew. What I'd be super interested in is how that bread would be?!? That sounds like a heck of a creative and neat idea. I'd kill for a sweeter bread with green tea (matcha maybe) incorporated in it. Really cool idea. but I'm no baker.

I know I wasn't on my best behavior today, so I apologize for myself.

- Dominic

Those types of teas do not need airing.

No problem putting them on the counter either.

Or........ What if you ground the tea into a flour as used it as part of the bread flour?

Mike

An air tight container is a good rule of thumb for storing loose teas. There is no requirement for the occasional airing. If it is a commercial tea then the original packaging will be good enough for storage including the cardboard packaging. I don't even bother to swap out the tea from vendors that come in the fold down tab paper bags with the moisture barrier. I'll even keep the tea in their mylar pouches because of the better than average strip seal. My personal favorite is the classic tin with the seated lid which is getting harder to find on the shelves. I've had good luck shopping the snack isle for tins in Chinatown. Instead of the seated lid they'll have the plastic cap. What will be more challenging is finding something that fits your shelves and everyday use. For long term storage it is whatever works. For everyday use then a more collaborative integrated stylistic presentation that makes a statement about tea. Mine is a storage rack hung on a pantry door that holds about 50 100g rectangular containers made of semitransparent brittle plastic in various colors with an airtight cap itself of sufficent capacity to hold the remaining tea while adding the new if that makes any ergonometric sense.

Jim

PS I don't know what cheap white tea you're talking about. If it is SowMee then clog a pot with it. I'd say 20% tea to pot volume with boiling water. It is one of my favorite teas when made that way.

hilltop wrote:

I believe matcha is pretty popular in baking, so this might just work. I'd be interested to hear results if anyone is brave enough to try it out.

Oops, I just read back and saw that a bunch of people already made the matcha observation. Sorry about that! Anyway, I'd still be interested if anyone wants to try it out with other teas.

Airing is for linens and cottons. The only reason to air teas is to make sure the air they're stored in is dry and odor free. My Upton teas are stored in their original containers, air squeezed out, and then put in ceramic cannisters. Assam is in one, Ceylon is in the second, and all the opened samples with clips are in a third. My greens right now are bought locally and kept in their original labelled sandwich bags and then put in metal cannisters, reused from old teas. I have sencha, genmai, and twig. Tisanes are also kept in small metal cannisters. Toci

Well Crew - several ideas I find worthwhile to persue. The storage will stay the same for now with the plan to up it gradually. The white tea made very strong to try and the idea of the breads. I have made some strong tea jellys and if I use the same tea as the liquid and sweeten with the jelly the yeast and flour may not overwhelm the tea flavor. I will try that when I begin baking again after we move in about 2 weeks. Moving is the PITTS! Thanks for the discussion.Mary

ps a breakfast 'coffee (tea) cake' spread with walnuts glazed with the tea jelly makes my mouth water here at 9:30 pm.

Well, you could follow Michelle's example and gargle with it in the evenings. She suggests that it helps improve dental health (see

Jo

Dry, out of sunlight, out of the air if possible. It's easy.

Buuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuut, if you are talking about pu'er storage, you will need to consider keeping the tea in a place that has no ambient or strong odors. It's also best to keep it in a airy place, but out of light and too much moisture.