4 key points on tea storage

Sunless is an important factor of tea storage

The quality of tea is very important to its taste, temperature, humidity, light and other factors can affect it. If you do bad on tea storage, may make it lose its aroma and taste, even go moldy and cause it to expire early. In some cases may be harmful to the human body.

Here are 4 key points on tea storage

Low-temperature tea storage environment

Temperature can affect the oxidation rate of tea, making the aroma, color, and taste of tea change greatly.
The high-temperature in tea storage environment will accelerate the oxidation or aging of tea, making some soluble substances in tea become insoluble in water, and aromatic substances are also damaged. And the higher the temperature, the faster the deterioration, the color of the tea is more likely to become dark.
The high-temperature tea storage environment making green tea become dark, black tea become old, and herbal tea loses its aroma. Therefore, to maintain or extend the shelf life of the tea, need to be stored in a low-temperature environment.

Stored the tea at low-temperatures

Low-temperature storage can slow down the oxidation process of various components in tea and effectively slow down the aging of tea. Of course, To storage tea at a low-temperature does not mean that the lower the temperature the better. Generally, the suitable refrigeration temperature for tea storage is between 0℃ and 5℃.

Avoid sunlight

The sunlight can also have an adverse effect on tea, speeding up various chemical reactions in the tea.
The uncomplete fermentation tea contains chlorophyll, after sunlight, photosynthesis will occur, leading to oxidation and deterioration of tea, making the color of tea dark.
Besides, tea also contains a small number of carotenoids, which are auxiliary components of photosynthesis and have the property of absorbing light energy. Under the action of sunlight, it is easy to be oxidized. The oxidized carotene will cause a bad smell after long time storage, affects the taste of tea.
Therefore, tea must be stored in a sunless environment to prevent photosynthesis of chlorophyll and other components.

Keep the environment dry

Tea can easily absorb water from the air and has a strong hygroscopic property. In the high-temperature season which the microbial activities frequently, once the water content of tea exceeds 10%, tea will become moldy, color and aroma lose, no longer suitable for drinking.

Tea bags also need to be stored in a dry environment

If dried tea leaves are placed indoors and in direct contact with the air, the water content will increase a lot in a very short time. In the wet weather, the moisture content can increase by 1% for every hour of exposure.
If the tea is affected with damp, will loss of fragrance, or cause heavy mildew. Never placed the damp tea direct in the sunlight, but put them into a clean iron pan or an oven, bake them with low fire and keep rolling the tea until the tea drying out and having the fragrance again.
Tea must be stored in a dry environment from the beginning and cannot be affected by water. The word “dry” has two meanings, one means the environment must be dry, the other means water content of tea before storage should be controlled to a certain extent.
The water content of high-quality tea is not more than 3%~5%. If the tea contains too much water, must be drying before storage. The tea after drying should also be placed in a dry and ventilated place to slow down the aging and deterioration of tea. The loose tea can be stored in a dry tea storage container.

Isolate the air

Air contact is an important factor in the oxidation reaction of tea, so to isolate the air is an important part of tea storage.

Tea is best to have a dedicated location for storage

If the tea is packed in vacuum, check the packaging for air leakage. And the loose tea which stored in a tea storage container, make sure the lid is sealed.
Do not expose the tea to the air for a long time. Because the dried tea has a strong ability to absorb odors, placed with other objects with a strong smell, tea tends to absorb their odors (this is how jasmine tea is made), affecting the quality of the tea. So the environment for tea storage is best to be a dedicated location.