I am having one of the strangest tea experiences of my life and I would like to see if anyone here can give me some insight on it.
I bought 50g of a black tea, Vithanakanda, on Friday, November 26th 2010. Five days later, today, I decided to try it. On Friday it smelled earthy, oaken, rich and slightly smokey with a hint of roasted almonds. Today it smells like a lite white wine, maybe a rose. It smells fermented, with hints of grape and a slight oaken undertone. There is a little bit of a roasted almond taste to it still, but it does not have that rich black earthy tone that it had when I bought it. The dry leaves have changed their smell too, to match that of my current brew.
When I bought it I bought a small tea tin to put it in as well. The tea has accompanied me from the store to the house in the tea tin. It is air tight and looks like a pretty good tin. The tea was stored in the same cabinet with my other teas and has not been taken out or used since Friday. Does anyone know what could have happened to make it change like this? It makes me think that my tea went bad, but I didn't think it could go bad in five days, not without some serious help.
The temperature in the house has actually been the coldest it has been since we moved in, down in the high sixties for the past few days. None of my other teas seem to have gone bad. Has anyone else had this happen before?
Also, would it be appropriate for me to ask this in the more general tea section? It is specifically about a black tea, but maybe it is something about tea in general.
Re: Tea Gone Bad
Are you sure there is a difference between the smells? It may have been off to begin with. I bought a Darjeeling last year which smelled off, like mildew, while the others I bought were fine. A good vendor will take it back or at least try to make good on it somehow.
Re: Tea Gone Bad
I am sure. It was weird enough that I even had to get my roommates as well as my husband to confirm that it had changed. I was all excited about my tea and my roommates are now just starting to learn about tea, so when I buy a new tea that I love, I have them smell it so they can learn a little.
I smelled the tea when I bought it, because I bought it in store, I smelled it again when I got home, and I smelled it today. They smelled it when I got home, five days ago, and today and they also think that there is a change in the smell of the tea. I live in a dry place and I store the tea in a dry place of the house. I don't think moisture was trapped in there, and that is the only thing I have been able to think of as a cause. That is why I decided to post it here.
I will take your advice though. I had been thinking about calling them and talking to them about it, so for the most part, that just confirms it for me.
I smelled the tea when I bought it, because I bought it in store, I smelled it again when I got home, and I smelled it today. They smelled it when I got home, five days ago, and today and they also think that there is a change in the smell of the tea. I live in a dry place and I store the tea in a dry place of the house. I don't think moisture was trapped in there, and that is the only thing I have been able to think of as a cause. That is why I decided to post it here.
I will take your advice though. I had been thinking about calling them and talking to them about it, so for the most part, that just confirms it for me.
Re: Tea Gone Bad
Since the store is local I'd take it back to them. Maybe putting it next to and smelling both the stores supply and your tin they could tell a difference.