Green tea. Shelf life?

Made from leaves that have not been oxidized.


Jun 30th, '08, 11:42
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Green tea. Shelf life?

by Ti » Jun 30th, '08, 11:42

Today I made a green tea that has been laying around for a long time. I don't even know what the name of it is but I've had it forever. There wasn't much of a flavor to it. It was mostly just green water.

So, does green tea loose it's flavor if stored a long time?

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Jun 30th, '08, 11:54
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by olivierco » Jun 30th, '08, 11:54

Yes.
With cold storage and nitroflushed packages you can have a better shelf life, but once it is open, it is better to finish the package within a month.

Jul 1st, '08, 06:53
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by Ti » Jul 1st, '08, 06:53

A month? That's not very long. I was going to buy a bunch of green but I don't want to have to chug it all down in a big hurry.

What about matcha? Last as long as thawed seafood?

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Jul 1st, '08, 09:23
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by hop_goblin » Jul 1st, '08, 09:23

Ti wrote:A month? That's not very long. I was going to buy a bunch of green but I don't want to have to chug it all down in a big hurry.

What about matcha? Last as long as thawed seafood?
I think you can get away with it if you put green tea in oxygen barrier bags for 6 months. But yes, green tea starts to lose its freshness after 1 month. However this is a moot point considering that most greens take 3 months to get to your door step.

Jul 5th, '08, 12:27
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by Ti » Jul 5th, '08, 12:27

hop_goblin wrote:
I think you can get away with it if you put green tea in oxygen barrier bags for 6 months. But yes, green tea starts to lose its freshness after 1 month. However this is a moot point considering that most greens take 3 months to get to your door step.
Thats what I thought. It's probably older than a month when you get it.

What's an oxygen barrier bag?

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Jul 5th, '08, 13:43
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by olivierco » Jul 5th, '08, 13:43

Ti wrote:
What's an oxygen barrier bag?
A package filled with nitrogen in order to avoid contact for the tealeaves with oxygen

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Jul 7th, '08, 18:15
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by Jack_teachat » Jul 7th, '08, 18:15

A few months ago I drank a fairly standard second flush sencha with a use by date of 1992 on the packet, granted it was sealed, but surprisingly it had a fair bit of flavour and I didn't go blind! :lol:

Seems to me that the key to freshness is in good packaging, the clock really starts ticking once it is opened!

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Jul 8th, '08, 00:38
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by Smells_Familiar » Jul 8th, '08, 00:38

When I open a package of green tea I divide the contents up between a few small canning jars. I place all of the jars in the fridge except the one who's tea I'm using. When I'm done with the jar I'm using I just pull another from the fridge, wait enough time to allow the glass to warm up to room temperature, open that jar of love, smell, and enjoy.

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Jul 8th, '08, 01:58
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by Chip » Jul 8th, '08, 01:58

olivierco wrote:
Ti wrote:
What's an oxygen barrier bag?
A package filled with nitrogen in order to avoid contact for the tealeaves with oxygen
Actually, it is a bag that is less permeable to oxygen through the walls of the bag...and even at the seal. A clear plastic bag such as a store bought Zip Lock is not an oxygen barrier bag.

It is usually foil lined, and sometimes multi layer.

Nitro flushing will increase longeity if using an oxygen barrier bag. Double and tripling the bags will also help...
blah blah blah SENCHA blah blah blah!!!

Jul 14th, '08, 06:04
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by Ti » Jul 14th, '08, 06:04

Think these might help? Anyone ever try these?

http://www.mgc-a.com/ageless/product.html

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Jul 14th, '08, 06:10
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by olivierco » Jul 14th, '08, 06:10

There are always one in Ippodo's packages (at least for all the senchas and gyokuros I had).
I don't know if it helps a lot.

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Jul 14th, '08, 07:28
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by Sydney » Jul 14th, '08, 07:28

Ti wrote:Think these might help? Anyone ever try these?

http://www.mgc-a.com/ageless/product.html
The trick with this sort of item is that they usually all come in one bag, and once you open that bag, you need to immediately use the lot of them. The clock is ticking instantly.

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Jul 14th, '08, 08:45
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by hop_goblin » Jul 14th, '08, 08:45

[quote="Ti"]Think these might help? Anyone ever try these?

http://www.mgc-a.com/ageless/product.html[/quote

Yes, I actually have a box of them, but I did not buy them from this site. I use them in my tai ping and other greens. It makes common sense to do so sense oxygen is teas worst enemy.

Jul 14th, '08, 08:48
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by procarel » Jul 14th, '08, 08:48

I do what Smells_Familiar does with his green tea. I usually buy my tea in 1 pound quantities to get free shipping (ha). That goes for my green and white tea. I then divide it into three or four ounce quantities into mason jars and then use a vacuum sealer on them. It seems to keep the tea very well. I tried using the vacuum bags with the sealer but sometimes it crushed the tea if I used too much vacuum so I like the jars better.

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Jul 14th, '08, 09:35
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by elchai » Jul 14th, '08, 09:35

Smells_Familiar wrote:When I open a package of green tea I divide the contents up between a few small canning jars. I place all of the jars in the fridge except the one who's tea I'm using. When I'm done with the jar I'm using I just pull another from the fridge, wait enough time to allow the glass to warm up to room temperature, open that jar of love, smell, and enjoy.
I was going to refrigerate mine, but I read in another thread on here, it is not good to refrigerate tea leaves. Maybe it all depends on what it is stored in? :?

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