Tea Storage: Oolong

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ShuShu
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Sat Jan 06, 2018 9:55 pm

A friend of a friend who does scientific research on preservation, told me today that there is a very big difference between airtight vessels (which only block most air from entering the vessel and which I assume many of us use to store leaf) and air free vessels which actually take the air out every time the vessel is closed.
He said that low oxidized green tea (such as High Mountain) which is sensitive to oxygen, will probably change its taste after a month or so, if stored in an airtight tin. Though it depends on other factors too and he was not sure that it is so to such an extent that people necessarily feel...
How do you store your Gaoshan?
Does you tea tastes different after a month? Two?
Would especially appreciate the views of vendors here who have experience in long term storage
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Bok
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Sat Jan 06, 2018 10:05 pm

ShuShu wrote:
Sat Jan 06, 2018 9:55 pm
A friend of a friend who does scientific research on preservation, told me today that there is a very big difference between airtight vessels (which only block most air from entering the vessel and which I assume many of us use to store leaf) and air free vessels which actually take the air out every time the vessel is closed.
He said that low oxidized green tea (such as High Mountain) which is sensitive to oxygen, will probably change its taste after a month or so, if stored in an airtight tin. Though it depends on other factors too and he was not sure that it is so to such an extent that people necessarily feel...
How do you store your Gaoshan?
Does you tea tastes different after a month? Two?
Would especially appreciate the views of vendors here who have experience in long term storage
From my own experience, storing almost only high mountain oolongs: I store the greener oolongs in their original unopened pack in the fridge. Last well over a year. The super fresh fragrant taste that you get from a recent harvest disappears a little bit, but the better the tea the less that happens or is of any consequence to the enjoyment of it.

Some teas actually benefit from storing them longer, even the greener high mountains. Not properly made ones will too. For example some have too much fire, that is the expression used in Taiwan, difficult to describe, but if you taste it you will know.

Any roasted oolongs stay in their pack and outside of the fridge, where they can be allowed to age. Depending on the quality, a few years or longer. So no worries there about storage. Explicitely for aging stored teas go into sealed jars. Outcome still to be determined :mrgreen:

Airtight is all the shop of my confidence does, they sell out each season, so do not need to be concerned about long term storage. And the teas meant for aging go into jars as said above.
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Bok
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Sat Jan 06, 2018 10:10 pm

Bok wrote:
Sat Jan 06, 2018 10:05 pm
The super fresh fragrant taste that you get from a recent harvest disappears a little bit, but the better the tea the less that happens or is of any consequence to the enjoyment of it.
Thinking about it, I guess that super fresh harvest taste is probably gone by the time it reaches the overseas customer.
When the new teas get out some people store the greener oolongs even in the freezer for fear of losing those flavours too quickly.

I only ever had it, when I get fresh samples immediately after the harvest. Without air travel by post in Taiwan itself.
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debunix
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Sun Jan 07, 2018 11:58 am

I prefer to buy those more delicate teas, when possible, from vendors that vacuum pack them, keep them in those vacuum packs, and once I open them, keep them airtight and drink them as quickly as possible; I try to keep no more than 1 such package open at one time at home and at work. Otherwise, airtight, except those that I am deliberately trying to air, in which case I put them in an empty teapot to air them for some weeks.
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ShuShu
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Sun Jan 07, 2018 1:30 pm

debunix wrote:
Sun Jan 07, 2018 11:58 am
once I open them, keep them airtight and drink them as quickly as possible;
What does "as quickly as possible" means?
You just opened a vacuum bag of 2oz (~50g) of LiShan. How long does it take you to drink it?
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debunix
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Sun Jan 07, 2018 2:28 pm

A month or two.

Alishans and LiShans do fine for that time.

TKYs are more delicate, and lose a lot of their early magic faster--within days. This is the one tea that I'd love to find in vacuum sealed 7gm packets. I know some teas come this way; I once was appalled to see several clerks at Wing Hop Fung filling one of the large glass jars they scoop the tea from by cutting open and pouring out tiny packets into the large jar.
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Bok
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Sun Jan 07, 2018 6:47 pm

ShuShu wrote:
Sun Jan 07, 2018 1:30 pm
debunix wrote:
Sun Jan 07, 2018 11:58 am
once I open them, keep them airtight and drink them as quickly as possible;
What does "as quickly as possible" means?
You just opened a vacuum bag of 2oz (~50g) of LiShan. How long does it take you to drink it?
I buy my teas in Jin, so that is 600g, 150g per pack, I normally finish that in about a weeks time, max 2. 50g should be easily to finish before it turns. A month seems a bit long for fresh Oolong.
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klepto
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Sun Jan 05, 2020 10:00 pm

What is the best way to store oolong tea samples? I don't want my babies to go bad, but I also want some nice and simple way to store them too :P. Most of the ones I have are packets that are resealable.
Last edited by Victoria on Mon Jan 06, 2020 12:19 am, edited 1 time in total.
Reason: Mod edit: consolidated post
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Victoria
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Mon Jan 06, 2020 12:27 am

klepto wrote:
Sun Jan 05, 2020 10:00 pm
What is the best way to store oolong tea samples? I don't want my babies to go bad, but I also want some nice and simple way to store them too :P. Most of the ones I have are packets that are resealable.
I keep samples in original packs and make sure to seal with bag seals and or just use the bags zip lock. Some bag seals are discussed in ‘How do you use this? (bag sealing clips)’ and ‘Vacuum Sealers’ thread is also very useful.
LuckyMe
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Wed Jan 22, 2020 11:27 am

I find that once opened, Gaoshan loses its freshness in about a month. For this reason, I buy in small quantities and seek out tea in vacuum sealed, oxygen free packaging. Otherwise it's often stale by the time it reaches you or at very least, sub-optimal.

After breaking the vacuum seal on a pouch of tea, I remove as much air as possible and use a plastic sealing pin to close the bag.
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aet
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Thu Jan 23, 2020 12:57 am

depends on how tea leaf is processed. More roasted - shorter time stays fresh . That's the general rule of any processed tea leaf. Sheng puerh made by new concept "high temp kill green" turns ugly after 3 or more years. Black tea made by Fujian style "high temp. roast" , turns dull after 2 years, but Dianhong 3 years, Sun dried ( no roasting ) 6 years..it's actually aging to certain extend.
Yunnan Gaoshan greens are tend to be processed on high temp. roast. Thy might be exceptions of course. Depends on local habits or special order from customer.
For high or medium temp. roast teas the air tight storage is the best. For teas which tend to age like Shai Hong or sheng puerh, the best is a bit air coming trough. Shu puerh is the best on air but also depends on environment. If dry like Kunming over the winter ( rest of the year we also have decent humidity ) , the older shu is better to protect begin dried out, turns sour and scratchy sandy throat feel after.
please take that only as my very own personal experience trough some years. Somebody might claim different. Also depends on environment you live. If you use aircond. or heater in home due to the outside temp.changes, that dries out the air significantly!
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mbanu
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Thu Jan 23, 2020 1:30 am

Firing preserves tea flavor by permanently deactivating most of the enzymes that cause tea to oxidize. However, that means that when the tea does start to deteriorate (there are some heat-resistant enzymes), it goes flat rather than oxidizing like it would during tea manufacture.

Low fired tea doesn't stay put, because if the moisture level gets above a certain level the enzymes are reactivated, so it is hard to control the flavor. However, you get some extra time out of the tea before it tastes like nothing because it will go through oxidation. Most randomly oxidized tea isn't very good, though.

Past a certain point, an extended kill-green causes problems of its own even though more heat-resistant enzymes are deactivated, preserving the original flavor the longest. If you deep steam the tea it turns to mush, and if you high-fire it it starts to take on burnt notes. Too light or no kill-green and you end up with white tea problems in teas that should not have them.

Picking the appropriate level of firing depends on how long the tea is being kept for. Normally growers don't plan for longer than a year or so, since there is always a new harvest. Export teas in the old days were prepared for keeping a few years, to account for shipping by "slow boat"; as a result of this journey, there were some styles of tea that simply could not be exported, as they did not harmonize well with extended firing.

A tea-maker can post-ferment the tea, but is not easy. For every pu'er and liu bao, you get a hundred moldy rotten teas that nobody wants; the reason that post-fermented tea was not exported overseas from Fujian was because they did not have the experience to make this style of tea successfully. It was not until later, when Europeans started purchasing teas from Hubei and Hunan, that you started seeing post-fermented teas, as they had developed this experience exporting brick teas.
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