"Vee raises awareness on all aspects of tea, from the subtle tastes of its delicate leaves and flowers to its history, uses and benefits. She creatively transforms New York City into the Darjeeling of the West."

--Rajive Sada Anand, NYC Artist and Teacher

"I am continually amazed by how much I have left to learn about teas, and how much of that that Vee already knows."

--Adam Daland, Former NYC Teabar Manager

"Vee knows her tea. As a tea sommelier, she is the one I turn to for help on the questions I can’t answer."

--Foster Newkirk, Tea Sommelier

Storing Your Tea

Proper tea storage is essential to the life of your tea. Learn how to keep your tea fresh and delicious with this article.

Shelf Lives and Why You Should Care About Them
Dangers to Your Tea
How to Store Your Tea
Pu-erh--An Exception

Shelf Lives and Why You Should Care About Them

Different types of tea have different shelf lives. Here’s a basic overview:

WHITE TEA--1 to 6 months (though some sources say up to a year)
GREEN/ YELLOW TEA--approximately 6 months (though, once again, some sources say up to a year)
OOLONG TEA--6 months to 1 year (though some sources say as little as 2 months and as long as 3 years)
BLACK TEA--approximately 1 year (though some sources say up to 3)
PU-ERH--Pu-erh is the only tea that, like wine, can improve with age. It should be stored differently than other teas.
TISANES--Tisanes come from many sources, so they vary widely in their shelf lives. Check for an expiration date if your tea is packaged. If not, ask your tea supplier and trust your taste buds.
POWDERED TEA--1-3 months (though some say up to 6)

This is a good general guide, but there are three caveats to consider when using it. First, this guide assumes you are storing your tea properly. Second, it is referring to the time that has passed since either the airtight packaging was opened or, if the packaging was not airtight, since the tea was harvested. Third, two teas of the same family stored in the exact same conditions may still have very different shelf lives. For example, a flat-leaf green tea such as Dragon Well (Lung Ching) will keep for a shorter period of time than a tightly rolled Jasmine Pearls. This is because the Dragon Well has a higher surface area than the Jasmine Pearls, and its essential oils have more avenues for diffusion from the leaves. If your tea tastes like it is no longer fresh, then it is no longer fresh. You should throw it away or use it as chagra.

If you are thinking, "Throw my tea away? But why?!?" then read this paragraph and be illuminated. As tea ages and looses freshness, several things are occurring. Its essential oils are dissipating and/ or breaking down. This causes a loss of flavor and aroma, which are two of the main reasons for drinking tea. Also, its nutrient levels are significantly decreasing. Nutrient levels are, of course, the other main reason for drinking tea. If you have a tea that is no longer fresh and you still want to keep it, I pose this question to you: If it’s good enough to keep when it has diminished flavor, aroma, and health benefits, then why was it not good enough to drink before it went bad? In other words, if you didn’t like it that much in the first place, then why do you want to hang onto it so badly now that it’s ruined? I’m sure you see my point. What should you do to remedy the situation? I advise the following tactics: Throw away your old tea now. Purchase fresh tea in small quantities. Use it promptly after opening. Keep a limited number of types of tea open at any given time. Store your tea properly. All of those are pretty self-explanatory except for the last one, which we’ll get to later.

Dangers to Your Tea

As far as tea is concerned, your kitchen is a very dangerous place! There are five things that tea is sensitive to, and most kitchens have all of them in spades. The "Frightful Five" to look out for are: light, odor, heat, moisture, and air. They can cause tea to go stale, lose its flavor, gain unwanted flavors and odors, and grow more mold than your third-grade science fair project. Some of these are easy to avoid.

Light. Those really cute clear canisters from The Container Store would be perfect for displaying your lovely teas . . . if it didn’t utterly destroy them. Keep your tea in opaque packaging, in a dark area.

Odor. The spice cabinet (and next to the trash can, for that matter) would not make your tea so happy.

Heat. Don’t place it above the stove or oven. "Hey, what about in the fridge?" you say. Nope. This is why:

Moisture is not your tea’s friend either, and putting it in the fridge will damage it. Besides, if, like most New Yorkers, you are plagued with roommates who are not quite, shall we say, fastidious about cleaning, your fridge may smell . . . funny.

Air. A paper bag is nice in that it’s biodegradable and all, but letting your tea breathe is not the best idea (see also: Odor, Moisture). Those are some thoughts on how NOT to store your tea. Now let’s get on to what you really want to know . . .

How to Store Your Tea

When storing your tea, you must consider the location, packaging material, and packaging mechanism. Here’s what to look for and what to avoid for each.

Location DOs:
Store in a cabinet, away from spices, pet food, drain cleaner, and other things with strong odors.
Store away from light. Cabinets (see above) and completely opaque containers are good for this.

Location DON’Ts:
DON’T store it near (especially above) your stove, oven, dryer, or dishwasher.
DON’T store it in your fridge, freezer, sink, dishwasher, washing machine, fish tank, dank cave, toilet, hot tub, local water park, or anywhere else that’s very moist.
DON’T store your Lapsang Souchong and other smoked teas anywhere near your less, uh, hearty teas.

Packaging Material DOs:
Opaque materials=GOOD
Metal tins that are safe for food are safe for tea
Glazed ceramics are your friends, unglazed ceramics . . . not so much
Some wood packaging is OK, but I suggest using a bag inside. Avoid containers that have an odor. Tropical hardwoods are popular because they’re a prestige item, but personally I’d rather have breathable air, a diversified plant and animal population, and a whole host of natural curative drugs than a nifty new tea canister that requires a bag inside anyway.
If you’re using bags make sure they are multi-ply and that the inner layer is foil or glassine (which is similar to wax paper, but resistant to the passage of air and grease, in addition to water, and is often used for NYC’s hot nuts).

Packaging Material DON’Ts:
Glass (unless it’s very darkly colored, it allows light in)
Plastic, especially in bag form (it’s porous, often has a odor to it, and is usually clear)
Paper bags and unglazed/ unfinished papier-mache canisters (smelly, breathable, generally bad)
Smelly woods, such as unfinished cedar or any wood with an odor to the finish
Anything that isn’t food-safe
Basically, anything smelly, porous, dangerous to your health, or clear gets the big thumbs down

Packaging Mechanism DOs:
Make sure your tea is tightly sealed. This can mean a double lid, a "magenta-and-cyan-makes-violet" or whatever seal, odor-free silicone (NOT rubber) edging around the seal, multi-ply bagging, or any other number of mechanisms. If you’re not sure about a packaging mechanism, think, "Would I hold this sideways with liquid in it?" If the answer is no, then you may want to try something else.

Packaging Mechanism DON’Ts:
Your beautiful, hand-carved natsume (Japanese tea canister) with the lid that falls off when you look at it was PROBABLY just made to display your tea in the moments before preparing it and serving it to guests. It was not meant to be a long-term storage vessel. Please don’t use it as one.
Just because your vendor of choice uses inferior packaging, it doesn’t mean you should, too. Invest a little in reusable packaging and your tea will thank you.

Other Storage Tips:
Try not to open more tea than you can drink before it begins to degrade. I have a queue system for my tea. The teas that need to be drunk first (older teas and teas with a shorter shelf life) are easiest for me to reach in my pantry, while teas with a long shelf life and unopened teas are toward the back of the pantry, where I won’t reach for them unless I’m in the mood for a specific tea.
Buy fresh tea in small quantities, and then use it promptly. If you like to buy 15 pounds of tea when you visit NYC every winter because "you just can’t get tea like this in Oklahoma," ask your vendor if they ship. You probably CAN get tea "like this" (but fresher) in Oklahoma for a semi-reasonable shipping fee.


Pu-erh: An Exception

Pu-erh is a specialty tea from the Yunnan Province of China. Like a fine wine and that hottie older college professor you once had, it can improve with age under the right conditions. For pu-erh, those conditions are: away from light, heat, odors, and moisture, in an unglazed ceramic canister.


Now that you know how to store your tea properly, go out and do it! And don’t forget to enjoy your tea!