When you purchase and accumulate some of your favorite loose leaf Chinese teas, you will certainly start to consider storage issues.
Storing loose leaf Chinese tea can be complex or simple. Once you understand some necessary principles, you can flexibly choose a Chinese loose leaf tea storage method that suits you.
What will you gain from this article?
>An easy-to-implement (adopted by many tea lovers) storage method.
>Aspects to consider when storing tea.
>What you should avoid exposing your tea to.
A Simple and Universal Storage Method
You can use small jars that are sealed, clean, and suitable for storing food at home to store tea. This is a method that many tea lovers use.
These jars are convenient for storage and easy to access, and they can be flexibly placed in different locations around the house. You can also use your small tea storage jars, tea sets, and tea pets to create a tea-drinking space.
Where can you find these jars?
This is one of the reasons why I like this storage method. You can easily find small jars suitable for storing tea.
Many purchased teas come with their own jars, so make good use of these jars. Other food jars are also a good choice.
You can also purchase tea jars specifically designed for storage. These jars often have good sealing and freshness retention properties, allowing you to better preserve the flavor of the best loose leaf tea.
Can the jars be transparent?
If you are storing tea for the long term, never use transparent jars.
For short-term storage, such as a few months, transparent jars are a good choice. They are easy to clean and readily available. Most importantly, transparent jars allow you to see the tea leaves inside clearly, which is very convenient for teas that are frequently accessed.
Remember to keep your transparent tea jars in a cupboard or a light-shielded corner of the room.
A quick tip:
If you want to use glass jars to store tea but don't have a completely light-shielded environment, you can use amber glass jars. The amber color can filter out most of the light.
Find more Chinese loose leaf tea with our Chinese Tea Sampler.>>>
More Tips for Better Tea Preservation:
Choosing the material of storage containers
Ceramic containers are suitable for storing tea. This type of container is suitable for most teas, such as loose leaf oolong tea, loose leaf black tea, and so on. Porcelain jars, purple clay jars, or other ceramic jars are excellent choices.
Tin containers are also very suitable for storing tea. Compared to other metal materials, tin has strong stability, is not easily oxidized, and is non-toxic and odorless. Tin containers can effectively preserve the freshness of tea and are very suitable for loose leaf green tea and loose leaf yellow tea.
Iron containers can be used to store tea but are not the primary recommendation. This is because iron containers are prone to rusting in humid conditions, which can contaminate the tea leaves.
Glass containers, as mentioned earlier, are a good choice under certain conditions.
Adjusting the storage environment
The storage environment for tea should be kept at room temperature. Pay particular attention to keeping your tea away from heat sources such as heaters.
The storage environment should not have factors that could contaminate your tea, such as strong odors and moisture.
The Importance of sealed storage
Proper sealing can help avoid many issues in tea storage.
On one hand, we need to consider the sealing of the container. Some tea jars with double-layer lids have excellent sealing and are very suitable for storing expensive/precious teas, such as some top-grade Da Hong Pao, etc. Tea jars with double-layer lids can better preserve the flavor of these best oolong tea.
On the other hand, it is best to minimize the air inside the container. In this case, it is preferable to choose jars with suitable capacities or sealed bags.
Find more loose leaf oolong tea with our Oolong Tea Sampler.
Regularly Inspecting Tea
You can set a schedule, such as checking your tea inventory every few months.
This not only allows you to detect any potential issues with your tea early but also helps you keep track of how much tea you have, preventing some teas from being forgotten in a corner (which is quite common). When you realize that you have an excessive amount of tea in stock, it's a great idea to package some of them into tea gift sets to give to friends.
An important principle of tea storage is not to purchase an excessive amount of tea. Therefore, before you are sure whether you enjoy the taste of loose leaf tea, it's recommended to use a loose leaf tea sampler to try it out, which is more economical and convenient.
What are Your Tea Afraid of?
The aspects mentioned above are not mandatory to follow. In fact, unless you are a professional tea storage expert, most tea enthusiasts cannot adhere to all of them. So, is there no way for us to store tea better?
There is. Tea fear specific elements. If you can keep your tea away from these elements, they can be stored well for a long time. Please ensure your tea are kept away from:
- Light exposure
- Heat sources
- Strong odors
- Moisture
- Excessive air (oxygen)
Based on these factors, you can flexibly choose a storage method.
Pu-erh tea is an exception:
Pu-erh undergoes aging during storage, improving its taste. The necessary conditions for Pu-erh aging are certain humidity levels and air.
Therefore, when storing Pu-erh, avoid light exposure, heat sources, and strong odors.
If you want to explore more Chinese loose leaf teas, feel free to try the iTeaworld tea sampler, which helps you discover more great Chinese teas.
Hopefully, this article helps you find a suitable tea storage method to better preserve the flavor of your beloved Chinese teas.
