Sipping a cup of tea and feeling the rich fragrance of tea is an indispensable enjoyment in many people's lives. However, if you buy a good tea, if it is not properly preserved, it will easily lose its original color, aroma and taste. So, how should tea be preserved? Today, let's share some tea preservation tips to help you keep your tea in the best condition.
Why does tea need to be preserved?
Tea is a natural agricultural product whose quality is affected by various factors, including temperature, humidity, light and oxygen. If not properly preserved, the water in the tea leaves will easily evaporate and the aromatic substances in the tea leaves will easily evaporate, leading to a decline in the quality of the tea and a deterioration of the taste.
Four principles of tea preservation
In order to keep your tea in the best condition, you should follow these four main principles when preserving your tea:
- seal and preserve: Tea is highly hygroscopic and easily adsorbs moisture and odors from the air. Therefore, when preserving tea, it should be kept sealed to prevent it from moisture and odor.
- Keep away from light: Light accelerates the oxidation of tea leaves, leading to a deterioration in the quality of the tea. Therefore, when storing tea, it should be kept away from light and you can choose to use an opaque container or store the tea in a cool place.
- Dry storage: The moisture content of tea should be controlled below 6%, otherwise it is easy to breed bacteria and mold. Therefore, when preserving tea, it should be stored in a dry environment and moisture-proof.
- constant temperature preservation: The quality of tea is sensitive to temperature, and too high or too low a temperature can cause tea to deteriorate. Therefore, when preserving tea, it should be stored in a constant temperature environment, generally 10-25℃ is appropriate.
Preservation Methods for Different Tea Types
The nature and characteristics of different teas vary, so there are slight differences in preservation methods. The following are some common preservation methods for tea:
- green tea: Green tea has a low freshness level and should be stored in a dry, light-protected, constant-temperature environment as soon as possible in a sealed container. If you can't drink it in the short term, store it in the refrigerator freezer, but pay attention to sealing to prevent the tea from adsorbing the odor of the refrigerator.
- black tea: Black tea has a relatively high degree of freshness and can be kept sealed in a dry, light-proof, constant temperature environment. If long-term preservation is required, black tea can be stored in vacuum canisters.
- Oolong tea: Oolong tea can be preserved in a variety of ways, and the appropriate preservation method can be chosen according to the specific type and quality of the tea. For example, light-roasted oolong tea can be sealed and stored in a dry, light-proof, constant temperature environment; heavy-roasted oolong tea can be stored in a well-ventilated, cool place.
- Pu'er tea from the Pu'er region of Yunnan: Pu-erh tea is a kind of post-fermented tea and its quality will continue to improve over time. Therefore, the preservation method of Pu-erh tea is more delicate, and it generally needs to be stored in a dry, ventilated and light-proof environment, with attention paid to moisture protection.
- plain tea: White tea has a high degree of freshness and can be kept sealed in a dry, light-proof, constant temperature environment. If you need to keep it for a long time, you can store white tea in vacuum canisters.
Precautions for Tea Preservation
When preserving tea, you should also pay attention to the following points:
- Don't mix different types of tea and store them together to avoid flavor cascading.
- Do not store the tea near smelly items so that the tea does not adsorb the odor.
- Regularly check the preservation of the tea leaves, and any signs of deterioration should be dealt with promptly.
With these tea preservation tips, you'll be able to keep your tea in tip-top shape and enjoy a flavorful cup of tea whenever you want.
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