Sipping Streams Tea Company

When I was younger, I used to play my at my friends house, even when I was sick. I didn't care if I had a cold, I just wanted to play. So my friends' parents would give me a cup of tea. They said that it would make my feel better. Over the years, I noticed that the teas never changed, I had been drinking the same tea. Does tea go bad?

Believe it or not, fine quality teas have a shelf life. The longer tea leaves are exposed to air, the more their flavor, oils, antioxidants, and other qualities fade. Tea never becomes rotten because the leaves have been dried and fired. However, you cannot store tea in the freezer like coffee because light and humidity affect the quality of the tea. By putting tea in the freezer, it changes the humidity of the tea. It's like putting vegetables in the freezer, when taking the vegetables back out of the freezer, they don’t have the same quality as before. Similarly, having tea exposed to light causes the tea to have a shorter shelf life, so store tea in a dark container.

            Tea is also very good at absorbing odors, so make sure that your tea is stored in airtight containers, away from other strong odors. One example of an odorabsorbing tea is Jasmine tea. The process of making Jasmine tea involves mixing tea leaves with Jasmine flowers during the wilting process. The tea leaves absorb the Jasmine scent, and when the Jasmine flowers have wilted, flowers are hand picked out the tea and mixed in with fresh Jasmine flowers. Then, the scenting process happens all over again. Similarly, Lapsang Souchong is withered over pine or cedar fires giving it a smoky or oak type of taste. Care is needed for where and how teas are stored. When reusing previously used tea tins, make sure that they are clean and free of the last tea's odors, because the new tea that you place in the the tin will absorb the odors of the previous tea and start to taste a little like the old tea.

Shelf Life of Teas:

White and Green Tea – 6 months unopened, 2-3 months after opened.

Oolong and Black Tea – 18-24 months unopened, 6 – 12 months after opened.

Tea Bags – half the time of type of tea.

Pu-er – becomes better with time. The only tea that ages, but keep it stored away from strong odors.

Written by Jenny Tse

Resources:

Dateline MSNBC. 25 Jan. 2007. 9 Feb. 2007

"Lapsang Souchong." Wikipedia. 4 Jan. 2007. 9 Feb. 2007 .

Maria. "How To Make Tea: 3 Short steps (with notes and sources) to good tea". Lehey.com 9 Jan. 2007. 9 Feb. 2007 .

Moore, Kevin. "A Fresh, High Quality Green Tea." O-Cha.com. 2 Feb. 2007. 9 Feb. 2007 .

"Storing Tea". 5 Feb. 2007. 9 Feb. 2007 .