How to store tea and how long it lasts: keeping green, black and pu-erh fresh

TUREFF• •0

Tea does not go off like milk, but it does go stale. A green tea that tasted bright and sweet in spring can taste flat and papery by winter if it is kept badly. Storing tea well is simple once you know what damages it. This guide covers the basics, how long different teas keep and how to tell when yours is past its best.

The five enemies of tea

Air. Oxygen keeps slowly changing the leaves and carries away their aroma. Every time a bag is opened, fresh air gets in.
Light. Sunlight and even strong indoor light break down the compounds behind colour and flavour. A clear glass jar on a sunny windowsill looks lovely and ruins tea fast.
Moisture. Dry tea absorbs moisture from the air. Damp tea loses flavour quickly and, at worst, can grow mould.
Heat. Warmth speeds up every kind of deterioration. Avoid cupboards above the cooker, next to the kettle or near a radiator.
Odours. Tea leaves soak up smells readily, which is how scented teas such as jasmine are made. Stored next to spices, coffee or cleaning products, your tea will pick them up.

The basic rules

Use an airtight, opaque container: a tin with a tight inner lid, a ceramic caddy with a good seal or a resealable foil pouch with the air pressed out.
Keep it in a cool, dark, dry cupboard away from the stove and strong smells.
Separate strongly flavoured teas. Smoky lapsang souchong or a mint blend will scent a whole drawer.
Buy amounts you will finish within a few months, especially green tea.
Use a dry spoon, never a damp one, and close the container straight away.

Should you refrigerate tea?

Many tea growers and shops keep unopened green tea, particularly Japanese teas and matcha, in the fridge or freezer. At home it can help, but only if the tea is sealed airtight. The risks are moisture and smells: opening a cold pouch in a warm kitchen draws condensation onto the leaves. If you do it, divide the tea into small sealed portions and let each one come to room temperature before opening. For black tea, oolong and pu-erh, a cupboard is fine.

How long different teas last

These are rough guides to peak flavour, not safety limits. A printed date is generally a freshness indicator rather than a safety cutoff.

Green tea is the most fragile. It is usually best within several months to a year of opening, and matcha within a few months. Look for the harvest date and buy the newest season.
White tea is fairly stable when kept dry. Some people deliberately age compressed white tea, which becomes mellower over the years.
Oolong: lightly oxidised, green-style oolongs fade more like green tea; roasted oolongs keep longer and can be re-roasted by sellers to refresh them.
Black tea keeps well, often a year or two or more while still tasting good, because its leaves are already fully oxidised.
Pu-erh is the exception. Raw (sheng) pu-erh is made to age, and many collectors keep cakes for years as the flavour deepens. Ripe (shou) pu-erh changes less but often mellows with some time.
Herbal infusions vary. Dried flowers and leaves such as mint and chamomile lose aroma within a year or so; roasted grains such as boricha keep well if dry.
Tea bags go stale faster than whole loose leaf, because broken leaf has more surface exposed to air.

Storing pu-erh for ageing

Pu-erh is different because it ages through slow fermentation, so it needs some air and stable humidity rather than an airtight seal. Collectors usually keep cakes in their paper wrappers inside a cardboard box or clay jar, away from light and smells, in a room with steady temperature and moderate humidity. Too dry and the ageing slows almost to a stop; too damp and it can turn musty or mouldy. Keep it well away from strong odours, which it absorbs over time.

Signs your tea has gone stale

Smell: fresh tea smells clearly of itself. Stale tea smells faint, dusty or like cardboard.
Taste: flat, papery or dull, lacking the sweetness or brightness it once had.
Colour: green tea leaves and liquor turn from vibrant green towards yellow or brown; matcha turns dull olive.
Feel: leaves that feel soft or limp rather than crisp have probably taken on moisture.

Stale tea is not usually harmful, just disappointing. Tea with a musty, mouldy smell, visible mould or that has been wet should be thrown away. Old but clean tea can still be used for cooking, cold brew or iced tea, or even as a natural deodoriser in the fridge. How do you store your tea, and have you ever aged a pu-erh cake? Share your storage set-up or ask a question in the comments.