Tips for storing tea and keeping it fresh. Post your ideas.
This page contains the following solutions.
I just got some Tetley Green Tea and when I opened the box, I discovered the bags were round. Makes sense really, if your cups are round, the bags can be, too. No strings, staples or paper hangers. I am in love.
Storing Tea. Always store loose tea in a container with a tight fitting lid to preserve the quality of the herbs.
Here are the questions asked by community members. Read on to see the answers provided by the ThriftyFun community.
How long can I store tea bags?
By Lorraine S.
The answer depends on several things-how many bags are you trying to keep fresh at a time, what quality is the tea leaf blend, and how humid is your storage area.
I live in the UK and buy a FairTrade breakfast blend that comes in boxes of fifty bags per. I usually have around 500 bags in the house at a time; I keep 50 in a tin tea caddy (with a VERY tight lid) and the other boxes I open, place 200 tea bags into a vacuum bag.
Seal properly, use a permanent marker to write the date on the vacuum bag and keep in the store cupboard (pantry in the US) for as long as a couple of years-I recently found a vacuum bag that was about 20 months old and when I brewed a cup with one of the bags I found it tasted just as good as a 'fresh' bag.
I did the same thing when I lived in the US Deep South-I bought Twinnings English Breakfast blend there-but found there that humidity made a difference in 'shelf life'. I could store tea bags in the vacuum bags for at most a year before the taste weakened. I did try storing a vacuum bag in the freezer, oh ick did that tea taste awful after only two months in the freezer, WOW!
I also used Lusianne for iced tea, and had the same results. LOL, we don't drink much iced tea in the UK but we sure drank a lot of it when living in AL, FL, and NW GA!
How long can loose tea be kept? I have some that is over a year old. Can it go bad and is it safe to use?
By Laura J.
I don't know what the actual shelf life is, but if it "goes bad" it will likely just not have a good taste anymore and no, it won't poison you. Before you flavor it up with sugar or flavorings, taste it to see if it has a dulled taste. I never keep up with how long I have had tea, honestly.
