The StoRage of Tea LeaVes

Four Reasons Why Tea Leaves Go Off

Temperature
Storing tea leaves under 10°C effectively stops them from discoloring and going off.

Humidity
When the water content in tea leaves exceeds 6%, chlorophyll degradates rapidly and tea polyphenol automatically oxidizes, resulting in tea leaves going off even faster.

Oxygen
Hydrolysis and oxidation of lipoid in tea leaves gives out unpleasant smell and makes the tea liquor darker.

Lighting
Light promotes oxidation of plant pigments or lipoid, which in turn expedites the process of various chemical reactions. The quality of tea leaves will inevitably be affected.



Four Ways Of Storing Tea Leaves
Way of storing tea leaves below are suitable for most of the common tea leaves, except Puer Tea.

Dry Storage
Prepare a pottery jar where 1/3 of height is filled with quicklime pack. Use craft paper to wrap the tea leaves into sachets and stack them in the jar. Seal the jar.

Cool Storage
Wrap the tea leaves with aluminium foil and put into a double-lidded moisture-proof tea caddy, or add some drying agents and keep in the fridge.

Vacumm Storage
Put tea leaves into aluminium bags. Extract air out to make it vacuum. In some cases, nitrogen is added to stop auto-oxidation of tea leaves; this helps preserve its freshness. This method is commonly used in the industry.

Hot-Water Bottle Storage
Wrap tea leaves into sachets made of 'yu kou' paper or put them in small aluminium bags. Place them in a thermo flask with double lids. This method slows down the process of auto-oxidation. Ultimately, in order to maintain the quality of tea leaves, use small containers. This way, the bulk of the tea leaves will not be frequently exposed to the elements in the environment.

Source: http://www.purplecane.com.my/purplecane/catalog/exchange/c34.html

(Storage of Tea Leaves )



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