Yet Another Question About Green Tea Storage

[JRS22]

I recently ordered two bags of karigane from O-Cha. Since I wanted to compare them, and since those beautiful bags look like gifts, I opened both of them immediately. In the absence of empty storage tins I left the tea in the bags. Each time I use one of the teas I flatten the top of the bag to remove excess air, fold the bag over a number of times and then use a rubber band to close the bag securely.

Is this adequate for a month or two of storage, or are the teas already stale? I don't have a good enough taste memory to detect subtle differences.

[olivierco]

If you close the bags well, the tea is stored even better than it would be in a cannister.

[Chip]

I like to place about half of a 100 gram bag into a reserve, and then the rest is for daily or regular use. That way only half the tea is exposed to a fresh blast of air each time I open it to have some. Seems to keep green teas fresher IMO.

[brad4419]

If the bags from O-cha are the silver/metallic shinny bags like dens or teaspring uses then I do the same thing. I press down lightly so not to crush the tea to remove as much air as possible and fold the bag as much as I can and then put a paper clip or clothes pin on top, then store in a freezer bag,not in the freezer. Its been 4 months like this and the tea is very fresh.

When I open the freezer bag I cant smell any green tea smell at all so I know its working and then I open the silver bag and it smells so delicious.