Oh I mean bags that have opened before by me, is putting in fridge still ok?
I just reroasted an oolong, wow the taste has recovered.
I used this person's instructions. Though other people have mentioned low temp longer time is much better, such as here
Super happy I didn't waste the tea.
Idea came from Victoria for when my oriental beauty went sour.
How to tell if my light oolongs / green teas are going stale?
A heavy matcha drinker here in LA who represents Japanese tea farmers, keeps her matcha canister in the freezer, taking out what she needs and quickly returning to the freezer. She sees no degradation. All I can think of is that the finely ground up leaf contains less moisture than intact leaves.faj wrote: ↑Tue Jan 19, 2021 7:03 pmThere is one type of tea I keep in the refrigerator, using it as I need it : matcha. I do not drink much of it, and I have kept good matcha for months in the fridge (in a tightly clipped bag inside a tin), opening it briefly (while cold) to take what I need. I did not feel it lost much (not a matcha expert, though). Maybe I should try keeping sencha in the fridge, taking it out briefly enough that condensation does not have time to form, or even pouring my tea funnel in the fridge to measure the tea.
I haven't noticed much of any beneficial effect from oxygen absorbers. I am in and out of my bags too frequently for them to be effective.
One thing that might not be immediately obvious is just how quickly they work. I used Mylar bags and oxysorbs when putting up dried goods for multi-decade storage. For example, large Mylar bags filled with rice, a 500ml oxysorb tossed in, and heat sealed would turn into a large brick of rice within 3 days. The oxysorb would essentially draw a vacuum as it scavenged oxygen inside the bag. The rapidity of this astonished me. I expected it to take weeks not a few days.
It's no wonder oxysorbs don't work for tea when I am in and out of bags now that I know how sensitive and quickly they work. I am confident they would work for long term storage, if you had to store a tea for a couple of years.
I would take a multifaceted approach If I wanted to store sencha for a few years: oxysorbs of the appropriate volume, food safe desiccant, in heat-sealed Mylar bags, and stored in the freezer. There's more than oxygen and humidity that could cause the tea to breakdown over time, so freezing it would slow, not stop, the other processes.
I'll stick to inert gases for daily green tea.
One thing that might not be immediately obvious is just how quickly they work. I used Mylar bags and oxysorbs when putting up dried goods for multi-decade storage. For example, large Mylar bags filled with rice, a 500ml oxysorb tossed in, and heat sealed would turn into a large brick of rice within 3 days. The oxysorb would essentially draw a vacuum as it scavenged oxygen inside the bag. The rapidity of this astonished me. I expected it to take weeks not a few days.
It's no wonder oxysorbs don't work for tea when I am in and out of bags now that I know how sensitive and quickly they work. I am confident they would work for long term storage, if you had to store a tea for a couple of years.
I would take a multifaceted approach If I wanted to store sencha for a few years: oxysorbs of the appropriate volume, food safe desiccant, in heat-sealed Mylar bags, and stored in the freezer. There's more than oxygen and humidity that could cause the tea to breakdown over time, so freezing it would slow, not stop, the other processes.
I'll stick to inert gases for daily green tea.
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JournalerMarie
- Posts: 26
- Joined: Mon Mar 22, 2021 9:47 pm
- Location: Southern California, USA
Hey I hope it's okay for me to follow up, months later! My light oolongs are getting dull and I want to try to revive them. I'm even thinking of roasting them beyond the refresh, as instructed in the first link. Do you have any advice, having tried it?26uk wrote: ↑Tue Jan 19, 2021 7:40 pmOh I mean bags that have opened before by me, is putting in fridge still ok?
I just reroasted an oolong, wow the taste has recovered.
I used this person's instructions. Though other people have mentioned low temp longer time is much better, such as here
Super happy I didn't waste the tea.
Idea came from Victoria for when my oriental beauty went sour.
Most important thing is to take it reaaally, really slow. It is easy to overshoot and destroy the tea for good. Patience is key.JournalerMarie wrote: ↑Sun Nov 14, 2021 11:17 pmHey I hope it's okay for me to follow up, months later! My light oolongs are getting dull and I want to try to revive them. I'm even thinking of roasting them beyond the refresh, as instructed in the first link. Do you have any advice, having tried it?
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JournalerMarie
- Posts: 26
- Joined: Mon Mar 22, 2021 9:47 pm
- Location: Southern California, USA
Oof patience…the most elusive of cooking ingredients.
What would you say is the most advisable way to take is slow for a beginner? Lower temp or longer roast time than recommended? If you have the will and spare time, I would love a recipe. I like the tea enough I do enjoy it as is but I…okay part of me is also interested in tinkering and diy’ing.
A wire tray like a splatter screen might help reduce hot spots. To get that shou flavor just roast it over a sheet pan of fish sticks.JournalerMarie wrote: ↑Mon Nov 15, 2021 1:09 pmOof patience…the most elusive of cooking ingredients.
What would you say is the most advisable way to take is slow for a beginner? Lower temp or longer roast time than recommended? If you have the will and spare time, I would love a recipe. I like the tea enough I do enjoy it as is but I…okay part of me is also interested in tinkering and diy’ing.
Yes, low temp. Not to forget that tea needs to rest a bit after a roast, too much "fire" in it otherwise.JournalerMarie wrote: ↑Mon Nov 15, 2021 1:09 pmWhat would you say is the most advisable way to take is slow for a beginner? Lower temp
There are no recipes, each tea and its current state of age and storage is different – as are a persons preferences on how they like their tea. Takes trial and error to find your personal ideal result.
Hmm.. I wouldn't say that. In my experience, this works a bit like a hyperbolic function - quick losses in the beginning, but then it slows down. And quite a lot remains, I'd say. I mean yeah, if you want them super fresh, and super fresh only, things are going to be technically difficult. But if you open a supergreen oolong, I'd say, it maybe loses 15% of it's aroma in the first week, but then takes a month to lose the next 15%.
I'm merely inventing numbers here obviously, but my point is, if you close the package, store it cool etc, then after a month, or even three or four months, the tea still will be very drinkable and nowhere near as stale that one had to say "it's gone". So try them , and don't be too discouraged - I believe you'll find them quite drinkeable, even though their absolute peak does vanish quickly.
@BokYes, absolutely, there will be a lot of variation. Quality is one, and I believe roasting/baking also stabilizes tea a lot. Even if a very slight touch of a roast will make teas much less fragile. I mean things like mountain oolongs and longjing which are still pretty green. And certainly there will be other factors that play into this as well. If one lives in a rather humid and warm climate i'd expect teas to lose their freshness quicker as well.
Not so sure about that… Taiwan is pretty hot and humid and on the contrary I notice a deterioration much faster in dry and cold climates. Or maybe it’s to do with that a certain level humidity is beneficial to smell more than with a “dry nose”. I remember reading an article about this somewhere, forgot where that was.
Mold is an issue though for sure. Storage can be be tricky.