TeaForum.org

Thinking for daily drinkers,
30 grams per team
Open a couple at a time
I plan on putting them into 3 gram individual tea bags, so 10 per variety
Then put those bags into a ziplock bag (only 1 variety per ziplock)
Then put each individual into its own airtight Tupperware
Figure 2 months, maybe 3 per variety?

I live in a climate where I don’t need to add moisture to my cigar humidor

Can I even get up to 5 or 6 months with this method (so maybe I can open more of the bags I recently ordered?)

What tea are you taking about? Humidity and air exposure can be detrimental to many teas.
Do you mean plastic tupperware? Those things hold smells and are usually kind of gross...
Most vendors sell loose leaf tea (unless vacuum packed) in mylar ziplock bags - those are excellent for storage.

I bought a variety of 30 oz teas. New hobby so trying a bunch.
I have a couple oolong
A couple black teas
2 puerh 30 grams
One white tea
A couple of herbals

I’m going to break them up into the individual 3 gram tea bags (or at least a portion of the bags, maybe leave some of them in the resealable bag they come in?)

I have a dark drawer/cabinet I can keep them in. I live in a warmer climate year round but it doesn’t get super hot.

Thanks

.m. wrote: ↑

Mon Jun 20, 2022 2:09 am

What tea are you taking about? Humidity and air exposure can be detrimental to many teas.
Do you mean plastic tupperware? Those things hold smells and are usually kind of gross...
Most vendors sell loose leaf tea (unless vacuum packed) in mylar ziplock bags - those are excellent for storage.

Ordered some Mylar ziplock bags. Variety pack. Should do the trick.

Thanks

Don’t separate teas into smaller amounts, that’s what you want to do right? Storage is best in larger quantities.

3g packs is a good way to make them loose flavour much faster. 30g is already a pretty small quantity. For example: I use on average 8g per session in about 60-90ml volume teapots.

You can store tea for many years, even green ones. But - at least 150g per pack, better is more. But that is not realistic for a beginner in tea. So. Just use it up as fast as you can as they come and don’t divide them!

Should make no difference as office tea that the person plans to boil in an electric kettle

I’d recommend you first try each tea individually at home, at a time when you can soak in all the aromas, textures, flavors using your new teapot. One thing I like doing is right after the first steep; pouring a little bit of the liquor into a small cup, opening teapot lid, soaking in the aroma from wet steaming leaves as I sip on that first bit of liquor. The aroma and liquor together creat The Moment.

Agree with Bok and .m. I mostly just keep my teas in bags they were shipped in closing with a clip seal or a grip stick. The quantities you ordered are small enough that they should finish pretty quickly. Also, once you’ve tried each tea, you can then decide how much tea to use for each session. Each tea will probably need different dry leaf amounts depending on water volume, heat and time.

I repurpose the sturdy mylar or mylar blind bags that many teas come in for dividing up other teas for storage and have the same to accessible in two places.

I don’t worry too much about dividing tees that are traditional/dark roast or Puer. I’m also pretty flexible with white teas but I’m more cautious with the greens and greener oolongs.

I keep the most delicate Japanese greens like sencha and gyokuro and Matcha Unopened in the refrigerator until I am ready to use them, and then I open up only one of any of these kinds at a time, and commit to using it up before I open another. I might divide it into two packages so that I keep one at home and one at work, but otherwise do not attempt to divided into smaller portions for storage. These are teas that do not do as well with thermos/bulk advance brewing has some others, so I’m mainly using them for immediate infusing and drinking on the spot.

For the greener oolongs, I also attempt to keep no more than one open at a time. I store the vacuum sealed ones at room temperature, but those that are not vacuum stored on arrival might get refrigerated if there’s room in the fridge.

Sometimes, if I’m not sure that I can get through one of these packages before the tea is going to lose its freshness, I divide it in to two or three larger portions and then vacuum seal them and again keep only one open at a time.

I used to think of black tea has quite sturdy and able to tolerate long storage of small amounts in partly used up bags, but i’m slowly coming to realize that some of them really need to be fresh too.

Thanks

So I won’t go and separate out the entire bag. I will just do enough to get me through the week or whatever. But generally keep them in the package in which they arrive.

I don’t think I ordered anything particularly delicate yet.

LeoFox wrote: ↑

Mon Jun 20, 2022 6:12 am

Should make no difference as office tea that the person plans to boil in an electric kettle

I believe the user has moved away from that idea early on and is making tea in a teapot (and maybe a gaiwan or mug).

You sound tired and sleepy, but that’s understandable considering life events.

Gassho

Baisao wrote: ↑

Thu Jun 23, 2022 2:17 pm

LeoFox wrote: ↑

Mon Jun 20, 2022 6:12 am

Should make no difference as office tea that the person plans to boil in an electric kettle

I believe the user has moved away from that idea early on and is making tea in a teapot (and maybe a gaiwan or mug).

You sound tired and sleepy, but that’s understandable considering life events.

Gassho

You're right, and I am sorry. It was not too long ago that I was boiling assam over the stove top and adding spices to make the most vile brews imaginable. I remember one experiment to make pink chai that ended up filling the kitchen and adjoining rooms with horrible ammonia like stench.

It is true, I have come a long way in a week.

And it’s pretty easy to do it better than just boiling twinings in a kettle. More enjoyable, and really not much harder or less convenient. Electric kettle with a small teapot is pretty clean and easy to use at the office.

Although it was good to learn that the teas that are sturdy enough to handle the abuse of boiling in a kettle don’t need much in terms of special storage. Every bit of information can be helpful, even if provided with sarcastic or trolling delivery. Need to learn what I am doing wrong in order to get better.

ChihuahuaTea wrote: ↑

Fri Jun 24, 2022 1:47 am

Need to learn what I am doing wrong in order to get better.

That's the spirit!

Also check the thread for tea blogs and other sources for reading material. Research and sample wide and deep, with an open and !!! critical mind. Don't take anyone's word for it, try it yourself (if practical, reasonable).

I've been getting free loose leaf tea (mostly oolong, green and jasmine green) from a coworker to find what I like before using my gaiwan. Ziplock has done me well even in samples.