A brief overview to help you ge to know me:
I am a single retired man who enjoys brewing a single cup of tea every evening to enjoy while watching the evening news. I purchase loose tea leaves (black tea) from a highly-rated coffee and tea shop here in Austin, Texas (Anderson's Coffee, https://andersonscoffee.com/). I use 6g of tea and 12oz of spring water in a wire mesh tea ball, and allow the tea to steep for 4 minutes. I use artificial sweetener, but no milk. Any suggestions to improve my brewing approach would be welcome.
I have two questions: First is regarding how long tea leaves remain fresh. Everything I have read suggest that tea remains "fresh enough" for at least six months. Is this the general consensus?
Second question: My tea leaves seem to have quite a bit of what I would call "dust" (see picture below). This requires me to shake the tea ball to sift out the fine powder prior to immersing the ball in boiling water, otherwise the dust floats to the surface. Is a certain amount of this dust normal in loose tea leaves, or is this a sign that the tea is stale?
Any feedback is appreciated.
