Five Tips for Green Tea Storage

As mentioned in our recent blog, freshness it one of the most important factor that influences the your green tea experience. It can easily go bad and the quality of the tea will also deteriorate. However, proper storing methods/precautions could be taken help preserving the best qualities of fine green tea for a longer period of time.

How to store fresh green tea?

The following is a general understanding of the issues that should be paid attention to when storing green tea.

• Avoid humidity:
• This is green tea's number one enemy. Chlorophyll, one of the components of green tea, is easily oxidized, which causes the leaves to turn brown in color as well as the taste of the tea. Properly made green tea is dried to a moisture content of 2% to 3%.
• When storing, the air humidity is more suitable at 60%. If it exceeds 70%, mildew will occur due to moisture absorption, and then acidification will deteriorate. Especially on cloudy and rainy days, remember to seal the tea bags tightly to avoid moisture.
• Avoid high temperature:
• High temperatures can accelerate certain chemical processes and cause the breakdown of components, such as amino acids, which will reduce the quality, aroma and taste. On the other hand, lower temperatures slow down oxidation. Refrigeration is therefore recommended.

• Avoid sunlight:
• Sunlight will promote the oxidation of green tea pigments and esters, and can decompose chlorophyll into pheophytin, which will deteriorate the quality of green tea leaves. Therefore, tea leaves are generally stored in opaque bags, such as aluminum bags, or in cowhide bags. Both artificial and direct sunlight can adversely affect green tea quality

• Avoid oxygen:
• Chlorophyll, aldehydes, esters, vitamin C, etc. in green tea leaves are easily combined with oxygen in the air. The oxidized green tea leaves will make the color of the green tea soup red and darker, which will greatly reduce the nutritional value. This also steals the original fresh taste of the tea.

• Avoid peculiar smell:
• Green tea leaves contain macromolecular palm enzymes and terpenes. These substances are extremely unstable in biological activity and can absorb surrounding odors widely. Therefore, when tea leaves are mixed with odorous items for storage, the odor will be absorbed and cannot be removed.
• Stay away from other smelly foods and items.

 

With the above 5 pitfalls in mind, in order get the most health benefits from green tea, people should familiarize themselves with the following tips for keeping the tea fresh.

 

 

• Green tea preservation methods are as follows:

• Generally speaking, new green tea needs to be stored in the natural environment (in good condition) for a week. After one week, it needs to be refrigerated in the refrigerator. 
• Store green tea in a thick, opaque plastic bag and squeeze out as much air as possible before sealing.
• Put in another plastic bag, seal, then put in a container and seal. These measures ensure that the chance of air and moisture entering the tea leaves is minimized.
• It also helps to make sure the container isn't opened too often.
• When you take your tea out of the refrigerator to refill your daily container, make sure to cool it to room temperature before opening. The temperature difference can cause condensation, which in turn affects the quality of the tea. Wait at least half a day before opening.
• Choose the right tea
• The quality of tea depends on how it was grown, harvested and processed.
• Tea grown naturally with minimal fertilizer is better. Proper harvesting and processing methods also play an important role. It is also recommended to buy early spring tea harvested between February and April, which tends to be of higher quality.
• Consume quickly
• It is difficult to ensure that the container is truly airtight, so it is recommended to drink the tea within months.
• If it is not finished within three months, it should be placed in the refrigerator to freeze. 
• It is said that green tea never really goes bad. Stale tea can be used; it's just not as tasty as fresh and properly stored tea. To increase and improve the shelf life of green tea, the above storage tips can be used.

 Hope you enjoyed this deep dive into green tea with Cha Moods!