Storing Tea

Just a quick one about storing tea, and I will try to get another tea review out in the next couple of days. I've been feeling a bit overwhelmed lately with work and haven't really been doing much of anything, which includes the things that I want to do. Don't worry, though, I'm still drinking plenty of good teas and definitely going to keep up on the blog. I'm also considering a couple of ways to present and describe the teas, so stay tuned!

Storing tea properly is very important, and more important than some might think at first. If you have a high quality tea, you obviously don't want it to go stale. If you don't keep it in an adequate container, however, it can go stale quite quickly, rendering a perfectly good fine tea flat, bland, and uninteresting in no time at all. A good container may set you back a few more bucks than you were really wanting to, but it's very much worth the investment.

Here's the main things you want to protect your tea from:

• Light - This is one that most people probably won't think about, but just think about that book, magazine, or piece of decor that got left in front of that window last summer that got sun bleached and it should make sense. Even incandescent lights contain a certain amount of UV light, and tea is very good at absorbing things. Light can and will ruin the tea, so if you insist on using a transparent container, you are going to want to keep it in a dark cupboard, keep that cupbord closed, and not open that cupboard any more than necessary. This is also something to keep in mind when you're buying teas, because unfortunately this is a point that some tea merchants either don't know, don't take seriously, or don't care about, and you could very well end up with a stale tea if it's been sitting there for any length of time.
• Moisture - Teas are dried to pretty specific individual levels, and if they absorb excess moisture then it can deteriorate the taste and overall quality of the tea. By the same token, you also want to make sure that the tea in the container isn't going to dry out. Like I say, each tea is dried to a specific degree, and you want it to remain at the level that the farmer intended. This is also the reason you do NOT want to keep the tea in your freezer. It can introduce more moisture and/or possibly alter the existing moisture.
  
• Air - This is the most obvious one. Obviously you want an airtight container. What may not be so obvious, however, is that plastic is oxygen permeable! Because of this, plastic containers are not suitable for storing your tea. I had an exceptionally fragrant high-grade monkey pick oolong lose ALL of it's fragrance this way in a matter of just a couple weeks. Plastic containers may be okay for very short term storage, but not very long. This also means no ziplock bags for anything more than transporting tea. Air is also something you want to consider when looking at the size of the container. The more completely the tea fills the container, the less air will be trapped in with it when you close it. Lastly, I would not trust those single lid tins with the lid that just slips over the top. The best tins are the ones that have a pry out lid as well as a slip-over top. Otherwise I would look for a tin with at least a pry-out lid.
• Odor - A lot of teas are most well definied by the scents they have absorbed. Tea is VERY good at absorbing odors. Some of my favorite teas have strong and definite fruit and/or flower fragrances and tastes, but without being artificially scented at all - the tea picks up the scents from plants growing near by the tea tree/bush itself! This is made obvious by the fact that the dry tea leaves smell just like.. dry leaves.. until you brew the tea. So anyway, make sure the container doesn't have it's own odor, can't pass odor, and won't retain the odor of the tea you're keeping in it. I would also refrain from keeping your tea in the same cupboard as things like spices.
• Temperature - Just like most things, you want to keep it relatively cool. A regular cupboard would likely be fine, just probably not a cupboard above your stove or fridge. You don't want to roast your tea!

The best containers I've encountered are BeeHouse brand ceramic containers. They have an airtight rubber seal with a metal latch. One thing that you may not realize (I didn't realize until I started actually sculpting with clay) is that the glaze on ceramic is actually glass. Clay itself can actually turn to glass if heated to extreme temperatures or fired too many times (it just won't make clear or even glass). So this way you get a completely opaque canister with a good airtight seal and that is completely odor-neutral. These are a bit expensive, but you might be able to find the same basic container at a kitchenware store for less. For the top grade teas, though, they are very definitely worth it, and the larger canisters are only a few bucks more than the small ones, and if you're going to buy that much tea then, particularly if it's a top grade tea, having a top-notch container is definitely going to be worth it. Specialteas.com has a good selection of these canisters, and they have pretty decent prices compared to other websites.

My next favorite types of containers are the double lid tins from The Tao of Tea. They are attractive round tins that have a pry-out type inner lid with a knob for easier removal and a slip cover type second lid. These are $4 each and hold around 3.5-4 oz of an average density tea, and about 2oz of a light and fluffy type tea. They also have smaller canisters (also double-lid) for a little less that are great for keeping things like samples (holds around 2oz of a relatively dense tea). These also stack pretty well, and I find this size to be perfect - it's the amount of tea I prefer to buy when it's something I'll drink regularly but not enough to justify a large amount.

After that I like the plain-Jane pry-top tins from Upton Tea Imports. These are pretty basic, but work well. Unfortunately they don't stack quite as well as the others, but they are cheap and space efficient. Upton has two different sizes, and I use these mainly when I have more or less of a tea than what fits in the Tao of Tea's tins.

Obviously there are others you could get as well. Plain old canning jars or the glass jars with rubber seal and metal latch that are common would do well, so long as they're not exposed to much light. You could always cover up the bulk of the jar or even paint the outside. If you have a vacuum sealer with a canning jar attachment, then so much the better!

So just a quick bullet-pointed recap:

DO:

• Get an airtight canister with a very good airtight seal
• Use a container made of glazed ceramic, tin, or glass (opaque or covered)
  
• Keep it in a cool, dark, and dry place like a cupboard
• Keep the container closed as much as possible, and just generally keep the tea protected from the elements as much as possible
  
• Use an appropriate size container for the amount of tea
• Invest in a good container that will protect your expensive tea!
  

DON'T

• Trust single lid tins or generally cheap containers
  
• Use plastic containers, or containers with plastic lids
• Use anything that has, or will retain, an odor
  
• Store tea out in the open
• Store above appliances that generate heat (stove, fridge, etc.)
• Store with anything aromatic, eg spices
• Store in the freezer
  

So that's it for now. If you know any sources for great storage containers, then please leave comments (with links if possible). I would also be very grateful for any corrections or additions for anything I may have gotten wrong or missed.