Jan 21st, '18, 16:22
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How to recognise if the vendors store and pack their green teas professionally?

by Rotor » Jan 21st, '18, 16:22

Hello tea lovers.
I have always drunk Japanese sencha. While the storage and packing of Japanese tea is not questionable I have doubts about the vendors of the Chinese green tea. I recently contacted (I suppose reputable vendor) Seven Cups with few simple questions about their packing and they refused to give me an answer. For me the answers of these questions is very important...
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1) When do you packing your teas? Actually I would like to understand how long the processed tea stays not packed.
2) Are the tea packets sealed in appropriate dry condition that allows storage into the fridge or transportation in low temperature (I don't like condensation into the packet)?
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I believe that the most problems with the green tea quality are result of inappropriate storage... Even not so high grade production will be fine if the storage is professional.

Shortly my question is -What is your experience with the Chinese green tea vendors and Seven Cups particularly?

Jan 22nd, '18, 07:50
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Re: How to recognise if the vendors store and pack their green teas professionally?

by 12Tea » Jan 22nd, '18, 07:50

I think most vendors will buy their teas in bulk bags. Some will pre-pack them in small package, others will pack when they receive orders. The latter can be a problem, because the larger back is opened very often. I don't see why you state that the storage Japanese teas aren't questionable.

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Jan 22nd, '18, 12:34
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Re: How to recognise if the vendors store and pack their green teas professionally?

by JRS22 » Jan 22nd, '18, 12:34

I’ve gotten excellent, well packed tea from Seven Cups. I think they’re too big to pack the tea as they fill orders.

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Jan 22nd, '18, 15:17
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Re: How to recognise if the vendors store and pack their green teas professionally?

by Senlin » Jan 22nd, '18, 15:17

Seven Cups has an excellent reputation as a tea vendor. I worked myself several years in a tea house, and I can confirm that they reach what I would call a very high standard quality.

Storing green tea is complicated, depends on the tea (I would recommend vacuum sealed bags and fridge for some, not for others for example), and is more or less a craft you get by studying tea conservation for years. All these factors can explain why they didn't answer you : which tea were you talking about, and it is a kind a professional secret.

Now, concerning Japanese green teas, the way your vendor stored them is much more important than the fact that they are Japanese : vacuum sealed bags, dry and cold fridges at the required temperature, and some occasional oxygenation are capital skills.
Chinese green teas are less "technological" (they don't all need to be kept in a fridge or under vacuum), but ask the same amount of precautions. Usually, a sealed jar and a temperature controlled room are enough.

I hope I answered some of the questions you had :-)

Best,
Senlin

Jan 22nd, '18, 15:34
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Re: How to recognise if the vendors store and pack their green teas professionally?

by Rotor » Jan 22nd, '18, 15:34

12Tea wrote: ...
I don't see why you state that the storage Japanese teas aren't questionable.
The production of the Japanese tea is entirely mechanized and automated. The tea is plucked (there are exceptions), steamed, rolled, dried, and sorted by machines. For the Japanese teas, the freshens is extremely important and I don't believe that any retailer will compromise the packing - it is just one step of the entire process and is too simple and usual. I suggest the packaging is relatively cheap compared to the whole processing of the tea.
In China everything is completely different. There quality range is far far wider just because the production is not so industrialized.

Jan 22nd, '18, 16:14
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Re: How to recognise if the vendors store and pack their green teas professionally?

by Rotor » Jan 22nd, '18, 16:14

Senlin wrote: Seven Cups has an excellent reputation as a tea vendor. I worked myself several years in a tea house, and I can confirm that they reach what I would call a very high standard quality.

Storing green tea is complicated, depends on the tea (I would recommend vacuum sealed bags and fridge for some, not for others for example), and is more or less a craft you get by studying tea conservation for years. All these factors can explain why they didn't answer you : which tea were you talking about, and it is a kind a professional secret.

Now, concerning Japanese green teas, the way your vendor stored them is much more important than the fact that they are Japanese : vacuum sealed bags, dry and cold fridges at the required temperature, and some occasional oxygenation are capital skills.
Chinese green teas are less "technological" (they don't all need to be kept in a fridge or under vacuum), but ask the same amount of precautions. Usually, a sealed jar and a temperature controlled room are enough.

I hope I answered some of the questions you had :-)

Best,
Senlin
Thank You for your clear and useful explanation. I agree with most of your thoughts. I have just submit a post that is very similar but I'm a new here and have to wait for moderator confirmation. :)

What I disagree:
I believe that the storage of the green and other kinds of low oxidation teas is not a rocket science but can be expensive :wink:
The are very few important factors.
Low humidity (less as possible)
Low oxygen (less as possible)
Low temperature (-10 C is enough)
Low external pollution or odors
Low temperature variations (less as possible)
Low sunlight (that is easy)

With regard to the Seven Cups. Yes they are very popular and sells rare and prominent teas. However I'm feeling that they attempt to hide something. My questions are enough specific and the answers will not unveil their know how... or maybe my English is too bad and my questions are not enough clear.

Mar 9th, '18, 18:07
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Re: How to recognise if the vendors store and pack their green teas professionally?

by Jicibi » Mar 9th, '18, 18:07

Strangely I've had more disappointments in Europe with Japanese green tea than with Chinese goods. Even with supposedly good quality matcha apparently proper stored, I get surprised when opening the sealed bag... Sencha is more forgiving, and I agree to the fact that properly stored medium grade sencha will often be very enjoyable.

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