Shelf life (safe to drink)

[Zubo]

I have some 2 year old Japanese Sencha that was opened, but stored in pretty air-tight condition. There is no any sign of mold or anything suspicious, and I was surprised how decent the taste is considering 2 years passed and it is not vaccum-packed. I am wondering, is it safe to drink through ~50 grams of that tea, or would you throw it away just to be safe?

[daidokorocha]

Drink it! It is perfectly fine. At times, Japanese tea is aged anyhow. Perhaps not 2 years, but a lot of other tea is aged much longer than that. Tea really lasts forever so long as moisture does not get to it. Sometimes after a few years it tastes bad, other times it is drinkable. If it tastes good, it is good.

[Drax]

Agreed, it should be fine.

If you find that it's not up to snuff, trying cold-brewing it (cold water + tea leaves, overnight in the fridge, then filter it the next morning and drink it to-go). I've just finished off a bunch of sencha I had from 2011 (100+ grams) this way. It was a great way to still get to enjoy the tea.

[Zubo]

Great to know I don't have to throw away all that tea