TeaChat

which tins/etc are the best for keeping tea fresh

if a thread like this is already made somewhere plz point me in the direction

I'm partial to these. The double lids seem to keep them airtight. And I like the way they look.

http://www.tenren.com/teaaccessories-teacanisters.html

I use airtight canister:

This one from o-cha.

or for bigger quantity this kind of canister (here from Hibiki-an but it is easy to find some similar at different stores

I think I will buy this ippodo canister with my next order.

The Tao of Tea's double-lid tins are the ones I like the best, but they take forever to ship (they take a week to get shipments sent) and they have a tendency to mess up orders.

I like Rishi's double-lid tins, but they're out.

These are some of my favorites, and do an absolutely fantastic job of keeping tea fresh:
http://www.specialteas.com/Silver+Star+ ... etail.html

After that I like Upton's pry-out lid tins. They're relatively cheap and do a good job, though they're not much to look at and they're not stackable. I put a piece of rubber sheeting between the tins to stack them.

I also quite like these:
http://www.enjoyingtea.com/endolidtinca.html

These are also fairly decent, though I can't really attest to how well they keep tea fresh:
http://www.imperialtea.com/AB1002000Sto ... gory_ID=13

All the nice ones from the specialty stores are nice and look great, but all you are really concerned with in keeping the tea fresh is reducing as much as possible the exposure to light and air. You can find a number of containers like this usually at a local grocery store. I have some that are metal and have clear glass lids with a "o" ring seal, but I keep my teas in a special cabinet I made that has light sealed completely out. Also, I know there are glazed stoneware containers that dont let any light in that have the "o" ring seal as well that you should be able to find locally. Hope this helps!

-Nick (TaiPing)

how do you clean them when pouring a new type of tea in. just warm water ?

Marky wrote:I'm partial to these. The double lids seem to keep them airtight. And I like the way they look.

http://www.tenren.com/teaaccessories-teacanisters.html

I saw a lot of these on my trip to China and got one for the tons of dragonwell I purchased while I was there. I didn't see them until the end of my trip otherwise I probably would have stocked up on them. They seem to do very well and are really cool looking as well.

Oliverco those containers are beautiful. I'll have to look in to getting some of those.

Many of my canisters I use came from Teavana, because that was the only tea shop in our area. They work pretty well keeping tea fresh. I've had some of my teas for quite a while and they are still good. I wouldn't say they are the absolute best, but they've done well.

I re-use the Adagio tins. They have a nifty little clip on the side for sealing the lid, which is clear but UV protected, they stack, and they'll survive falling repeatedly out of my over-crowded tea cabinet.
To clean them, wash with soap and hot water, towel dry, and let air dry for a day or two before re-filling with another tea. The labels come off very easily so that you can place a new label on the side.

won't the tin smell like soap

i wish i kept my old rishi tins

insanitylater wrote:won't the tin smell like soap

Usually not. If so, rinse it once some more times with hot water.

insanitylater wrote:i wish i kept my old rishi tins

That's how I got a lot of my tins, by recycling the Rishi ones. They've even made the labels easier to get off now.

Yes, Rishi tins are actually pretty good. I don't usually buy from them, though.

teavana used to have good tins, but last time (1yr ago) the rubber lip thing was not as rubbery anymore, more rigid. they did not leak anything into the air (i have a strong earl grey that is a test to any container )

i got some cheap containers similar to ones from imperial court, the rubber/plastic ring was rigid=wont make a good seal, and not well glued, came off!

nowadays i just get airtight containers from target (usually sterilite) they dont leak anything, dont smell like plastic, only thing is theyre transparent (i keep in a closet, but even so not enough)

only advice is to keep the herbals (chamomile) in their own, because the damn aromatics/smells are really really tough to remove even from the metal tins (i am now at a 3rd wash with overnight soaking, 1 still smells...)

french jars (the ones with a rubber O ring on the lid and clamp to close) look good but you have to check that it is a rubbery one, and the rubber is well squished all around (some are made bad).

i just realized i have one of these tins leftover


they are airtight and seem like they could do the job

makes yerba mate making very easy