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I ordered more tea than usual this time of year due to fear of the tariffs...anyways...

For intermediate term storage where I want to drink some of the tea now but save some for later: would it be best to portion out the tea I want to save, put it in a vacuum sealed jar and then put it in the refrigerator? Then when ready to drink, just to bring the jar to room temperature before opening?

chaeric wrote: ↑

Sat May 03, 2025 1:27 am

I ordered more tea than usual this time of year due to fear of the tariffs...anyways...

For intermediate term storage where I want to drink some of the tea now but save some for later: would it be best to portion out the tea I want to save, put it in a vacuum sealed jar and then put it in the refrigerator? Then when ready to drink, just to bring the jar to room temperature before opening?

Fridge is generally recommended for green tea storage, but it's best if you have the original sealed packs (usually nitrogen flushed and/or with oxygen absorber). Vacuum sealed jars are better than nothing, but would leave a lot of remaining air/oxygen in contact (and may not hold the seal, exposing the tea to fridge smells / condensation, which would ruin it). I guess vacuum sealed bags would be better, but it might be best to just finish off any opened bags and only refrigerate factory sealed stuff, if possible.

Huh I thought I had read that freezer was best for factory sealed green tea and to bring it to room temp before consuming.

Ideally I would consume the bag quickly upon opening, but was thinking of a way to delay it for at least some of the expensive teas.

Some people do recommend storing teas in the freezer, but I've never tried this.

I wonder whether there will be any deterioration after thawing? The moisture content should be quite low, but is there still a risk from the formation of ice crystals?

Freezer should be fine as well, as long as the packaging is suitable. Steamed raw tea (after drying, i.e. aracha) can be stored below freezing (& AFAIK often is), and it has twice the water content of usual tea.