Ever wondered why your tea might not taste quite the same as what you are used to? There are 5 key factors that can change the taste of your tea. These factors are light, heat, moisture, odour and air. How you store your tea is key to keeping its freshness – both in taste and aroma.
Exposing your tea to the air around it increases the chances that your tea will absorb the everyday odours in your kitchen.
There is a reason for storing your tea in the cupboard – exposure to light or heat from the sun can degrade the quality of your tea, removing its flavour and aroma.
Tea Bags are considered shelf stable because they are completely dry. The dry leaves can however absorb moisture from the air very quickly. Moisture can therefore cause problems too so as much as you don’t want to expose your tea to heat, you also don’t want to make the mistake of storing it in the fridge or in other humid areas in your home.
In short – if you follow these simple rules, your tea will always be served with the fresh taste and aroma you love so much!
- Store in a dark dry cabinet away from light, heat and moisture.
- Glazed ceramics or non-reactive metals and opaque, non-leaching plastics all make great storage canisters for your tea. Be careful with wood containers as the natural wood odour can influence the tea’s taste.
- Make sure your storage container has a lid that seals properly.
- Store your tea far away from anything containing a strong odour.
- Only open one sealed pack of tea at a time – keeping the remaining tea bags in their foil wrapping helps to retain the freshness.
