Expiration date of dark tea?

These teas can resemble virtually any flavor imaginable.


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Jun 30th, '17, 04:07
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Expiration date of dark tea?

by janet11 » Jun 30th, '17, 04:07

For the expiration date of tea I’m not sure, of course it still has certain deadline as foods I think.
But when I saw the shelf life of dark tea with the longer the better, I have some questions.Is it true?

Jun 30th, '17, 05:34
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Re: Expiration date of dark tea?

by Bok » Jun 30th, '17, 05:34

Mostly the worst thing that happens with an expired tea is that is has lost all its taste and flavour.

Aged tea can go bad though. Moldy in most cases. Which you can (with some experience) see and taste. Just trust your instincts if you feel something is off, it probably is :mrgreen:

We are still animals after all…

I do not think that you can indefinitely age a tea. Each variety will have their prime, after which everything declines. Some longer, some shorter. A lot also depends on how it was aged. A large area of study.

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Re: Expiration date of dark tea?

by kuánglóng » Jun 30th, '17, 05:38

janet11 wrote: For the expiration date of tea I’m not sure, of course it still has certain deadline as foods I think.
But when I saw the shelf life of dark tea with the longer the better, I have some questions.Is it true?
It all depends, as usual. While some foods, especially meat or fish can harm or even kill you if it's gone 'bad' I wouldn't know of any tea that would have these effects after it has crossed the deadline, as long as it's been kept dry enough. The relative water content plays the important role here. People have been drying all sorts of food, including meat and fish for ages to make it last longer. You can store properly dried fish or meat for decades - I have some spicy, dried tibetan yak meat from the late 90s that is still pretty delicious and absolutely safe to eat.
Regarding dark and other ageable teas a lot depends on the specific tea and the storage but quite a few folks here have a soft spot for aged (decades) dark teas, some of us take it to an extreme of sorts :lol: .
Just have a look at the numerous related posts in the pu-erh section of this forum, this topic has been discussed ad nauseum.

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Jun 30th, '17, 11:44
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Re: Expiration date of dark tea?

by Xeractha » Jun 30th, '17, 11:44

janet11 wrote: For the expiration date of tea I’m not sure, of course it still has certain deadline as foods I think.
But when I saw the shelf life of dark tea with the longer the better, I have some questions.Is it true?
Flavours change over time, bitterness, astringency is usually less apparent in older teas. A young Xiaguan could be too smokey for some people but after a decade it's really nice.
After years the taste of fermentation is reduced or gone (in certain teas).
As long as you get your teas from a trusted source it will be okay. You might find bugs, hair, piece of concrete and other stuff in older teas but hey, free gift. :D
As others said, just keep an eye on mold, fungus.

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Jun 30th, '17, 12:06
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Re: Expiration date of dark tea?

by jayinhk » Jun 30th, '17, 12:06

Drinking ten-year-old Guangzhou storage pu erh now and this is young as far as pu erh goes. :D

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Jul 3rd, '17, 03:10
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Re: Expiration date of dark tea?

by janet11 » Jul 3rd, '17, 03:10

kuánglóng wrote:
janet11 wrote: For the expiration date of tea I’m not sure, of course it still has certain deadline as foods I think.
But when I saw the shelf life of dark tea with the longer the better, I have some questions.Is it true?
It all depends, as usual. While some foods, especially meat or fish can harm or even kill you if it's gone 'bad' I wouldn't know of any tea that would have these effects after it has crossed the deadline, as long as it's been kept dry enough. The relative water content plays the important role here. People have been drying all sorts of food, including meat and fish for ages to make it last longer. You can store properly dried fish or meat for decades - I have some spicy, dried tibetan yak meat from the late 90s that is still pretty delicious and absolutely safe to eat.
Regarding dark and other ageable teas a lot depends on the specific tea and the storage but quite a few folks here have a soft spot for aged (decades) dark teas, some of us take it to an extreme of sorts :lol: .
Just have a look at the numerous related posts in the pu-erh section of this forum, this topic has been discussed ad nauseum.
Maybe the answer is not unique while I just want to a know a rough time. One year,two, three...... and I am also know it's difficulty to define it. Sometimes we store tea and forget to put it out that you will want to know whether it's still fresh or not. I do not want to waste my good tea, but sometimes I will forget。

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Jul 3rd, '17, 03:13
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Re: Expiration date of dark tea?

by janet11 » Jul 3rd, '17, 03:13

jayinhk wrote: Drinking ten-year-old Guangzhou storage pu erh now and this is young as far as pu erh goes. :D
Amazing, ten years old tea I never have tried. :roll:

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Jul 3rd, '17, 03:16
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Re: Expiration date of dark tea?

by janet11 » Jul 3rd, '17, 03:16

Xeractha wrote:
janet11 wrote: For the expiration date of tea I’m not sure, of course it still has certain deadline as foods I think.
But when I saw the shelf life of dark tea with the longer the better, I have some questions.Is it true?
Flavours change over time, bitterness, astringency is usually less apparent in older teas. A young Xiaguan could be too smokey for some people but after a decade it's really nice.
After years the taste of fermentation is reduced or gone (in certain teas).
As long as you get your teas from a trusted source it will be okay. You might find bugs, hair, piece of concrete and other stuff in older teas but hey, free gift. :D
As others said, just keep an eye on mold, fungus.
Time and fungus is amazing, it will re-give tea a new life

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Jul 3rd, '17, 03:21
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Re: Expiration date of dark tea?

by janet11 » Jul 3rd, '17, 03:21

Bok wrote: Mostly the worst thing that happens with an expired tea is that is has lost all its taste and flavour.

Aged tea can go bad though. Moldy in most cases. Which you can (with some experience) see and taste. Just trust your instincts if you feel something is off, it probably is :mrgreen:

We are still animals after all…

I do not think that you can indefinitely age a tea. Each variety will have their prime, after which everything declines. Some longer, some shorter. A lot also depends on how it was aged. A large area of study.
As you said I do not need care about wheter the tea has chaged . I should feel it and thought by myself tea will tell me the answer

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Jul 3rd, '17, 03:37
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Re: Expiration date of dark tea?

by Xeractha » Jul 3rd, '17, 03:37

janet11 wrote: Maybe the answer is not unique while I just want to a know a rough time. One year,two, three...... and I am also know it's difficulty to define it. Sometimes we store tea and forget to put it out that you will want to know whether it's still fresh or not. I do not want to waste my good tea, but sometimes I will forget。
1-3 years old tea is young. According to a diagram I saw somewhere the tea reaches it's peak after 35-40 years. Obviously, it depends on wet, dry storage, broken leaves or full cake/tuo/brick etc. So don't worry about it. You won't be buying 30+ years old tea at a local store anyway 'cause it ain't cheap. As long as the tea wasn't stored under direct sunlight in an open box it will be okay I think.
Of course the opposite is true for greens and the rest. Green tea can deteriorate quite fast, few weeks are enough to lose flavour.

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