I'm a lover of Bai Hao Yin Zhen (Silver Needles) and it's pretty much the only tea I drink nowadays.
Well I ran out of my 2 Dove Silver Needle that had sustained me over the last couple years, so I went to the health food store and bought a canister of Silver Needles from Republic of Tea. It tasted delicious, with slight banana undertones and the marked sweetness that I love so much in Yin Zhen. Well I decided to store the cannister in the fridge to prolong its freshness. It remained there for a week or so, and still brewed up to taste wonderful. A few days ago, on a whim, I took it out of the fridge and have been storing it at room temperature. Now, for the last couple days, when I brew it it's lacking flavor and has little to no sweetness. I find this really upsetting because the characteristic sweetness is what I love most about Silver Needles. I read in a Mary Lou Heiss book that temperature changes are bad for tea...but I didn't realize that such a minor temp. change from fridge to room temp. could zap all the flavor out and so quickly. I occasionally stored my previous 2 Dove Silver Needle in the fridge and "decanted" it into smaller containers kept at room temperature and it never lost its flavor.
So I'm wondering: Has anyone ever experienced flavor loss or other bad effects from storage issues? I can't imagine what else to attribute the flavor change to...And it happened so quickly.
Thank you!
Re: My Silver Needles lost their flavor...due to storage??
How were you storing the tea in your refrigerator? Any chance it picked up 'rogue' odors from other stuff?
As long as you kept the package air-tight (to protect against odors and moisture), normally I would not have said refrigerator storage would impact the tea.
Maybe somebody else will know differently.
On a slightly different note -- have you been eating any different foods before having the tea? Or did you recently burn your mouth on hot foods/liquids? These things will temporarily affect how you taste your tea. If you've had problems with the tea over more than 2 days, though, it's probably something else (although allergies and certainly colds will cause problems, too).
As long as you kept the package air-tight (to protect against odors and moisture), normally I would not have said refrigerator storage would impact the tea.
Maybe somebody else will know differently.
On a slightly different note -- have you been eating any different foods before having the tea? Or did you recently burn your mouth on hot foods/liquids? These things will temporarily affect how you taste your tea. If you've had problems with the tea over more than 2 days, though, it's probably something else (although allergies and certainly colds will cause problems, too).
Re: My Silver Needles lost their flavor...due to storage??
Thanks for the thoughtful response. I'm just storing it in the original Republic of Tea canister.
There may be something to what you say about what I eat right before I drink affecting the taste of the tea. Before I drank my pot of tea today, I ate a saltine cracker which was very salty.
I know that some black teas go well with food, but the gentle flavors of more delicate teas are easily overwhelmed. I'll have to do some experimenting...I'll try to drink my pot of Yin Zhen tomorrow with a "cleansed palate" so that my taste buds will be as neutral as possible. I'll report back, I think you could be onto something.
There may be something to what you say about what I eat right before I drink affecting the taste of the tea. Before I drank my pot of tea today, I ate a saltine cracker which was very salty.
I know that some black teas go well with food, but the gentle flavors of more delicate teas are easily overwhelmed. I'll have to do some experimenting...I'll try to drink my pot of Yin Zhen tomorrow with a "cleansed palate" so that my taste buds will be as neutral as possible. I'll report back, I think you could be onto something.
Re: My Silver Needles lost their flavor...due to storage??
My personal experience has been that white tea does not keep as well or as long as green or black. So it may be that its flavor just decayed naturally.
Keep in mind that the production process of black and green teas involves heating, which, I think, preserves the quality of the tea to a degree. White tea is either not heated at all, or heated much less...so it's intuitive to me that it wouldn't keep as well.
I haven't read reliable sources backing this up though.
Keep in mind that the production process of black and green teas involves heating, which, I think, preserves the quality of the tea to a degree. White tea is either not heated at all, or heated much less...so it's intuitive to me that it wouldn't keep as well.
I haven't read reliable sources backing this up though.
Re: My Silver Needles lost their flavor...due to storage??
well i wouldn't say that japanese green holds fresh that long