To allow a newly opened tea breathe ... or not?

[Chip]

Desiccants remove moisture because they´re very hygroscopic...they want to absorb water into their chemical structure . You can usually reverse that process by heating the desiccant to drive the water out into the atmosphere again.

Silica packs are just a type of desiccant. They´re good for using with food because they´re not toxic, most desiccants are rather toxic so it´s best not to use them with food products like tea.

Thanks Entropy.

So, I thought I saw a de-oxyginator in a bag of tea, or am I likely wrong?

[entropyembrace]

Desiccants remove moisture because they´re very hygroscopic...they want to absorb water into their chemical structure . You can usually reverse that process by heating the desiccant to drive the water out into the atmosphere again.

Silica packs are just a type of desiccant. They´re good for using with food because they´re not toxic, most desiccants are rather toxic so it´s best not to use them with food products like tea.

Thanks Entropy.

So, I thought I saw a de-oxyginator in a bag of tea, or am I likely wrong?

There´s oxygen absorbing compounds too which are used pretty much the same way...it seems like most companies who manufacture them are keeping what compounds they´re using specifically a secret though.

At least I can´t find with a quick search which compounds are being used in oxygen absorption packets.

[Tead Off]

As others have said, the silica packs that come with many teas are reusable in the tea caddies. I believe it may be possible to simply heat them to remove moisture. A little checking on google should bring something up.

I don't know why, but, removing tea, especially oolongs, from their bags seems to open up the fragrance and taste for me. They need to mix with some air unless keeping them stored for aging, then you want to minimize oxidation and moisture build up.

With greens, I take out a good amount from the original bag and keep it in a caddy. I usually drink up greens quicker than oolongs as I don't buy many of them.

[Stentor]

So, I thought I saw a de-oxyginator in a bag of tea, or am I likely wrong?

My recent shipment from O-Cha had an "oxygen absorber" in each of the bags. I just put it into the storage tin along with the tea. I suppose it can't be bad, although I'm not sure if it's of much use either. What do you think?

Regarding letting the tea breathe prior to brewing, I have not noticed any difference, unless we're talking about letting it sit in the open air for hours or so in which case I wouldn't know.

It seems paradoxical to take every precaution to prevent too much exposure to oxygen and moisture when it comes to packaging and storage because that exposure is bad for the tea and then in turn assume that same exposure would be good for the tea before consumption?! I don't know.

[tsverrir]

I know it's a green tea thread but...
I have noticed on more than one occasion that high mountain oolongs (that are usually vacuum packed just after baking) taste more full the day after opening the bag. I usually close the bag after opening with a paper-clip or a rubber-band so I'm not talking about actually letting the tea breathe but I guess the super-dry leaves get time to adjust to the moisture level of the air and that seems to bring them to life.

[teaisme]

yeah if I smell an oolong and it has that distinct storage smell/bag smell I usually let enough leaf for two brews sit for 1-4 hours.

Other new teas not balled I usually let sit around for 20 mins on display tray while I prep. Haven't noticed such a huge difference with greens, but with balled oolong I can really tell the difference esp the smell of the rinse.

I don't know if I would see the purpose of airing out as letting it acclimate to the environments moisture level (at least not to a huge extent), more likely it is to outgass whatever the tea has picked up from storage/production

Where do you get these dessicant packs? How many at a time?

Great site has lots of interesting stuff. Good too if you want to start your own tea brand http://www.sorbentsystems.com/desiccant_overview.html

[Stentor]

Great post, churng. That site has a lot of interesting information on application of oxygen absorbers and desiccants.