The Tea Fridge

[PolyhymnianMuse]

I know chip has one, a lot of other people store tea in the fridge. The topic often comes up when talking about japanese green tea but I'm curious about the aspects of the tea fridge in a more general sense.

Can/Should all teas in sealed packages be stored in a tea fridge until they are ready to be open and used?

What is an appropriate temperature to have a tea fridge at? I have a little white mini fridge that really isn't be used for much of anything else, so I plan on wiping it all out and using it as a tea fridge.

Finally, what else should I know about maintaining a tea fridge?

[olivierco]

I store all my unopened packages of Japanese greens (and chinese greens but I just have one right now) in my fridge. I store the packages in hermetic (?) plastic boxes to avoid any food smell (I like to eat cheese).
The temperature is about 5°C in my fridge (40°F).

[Sydney]

I toss my unopened greens in the crisper tray of my normal fridge some times to keep 'em for a while. Never really checked the temp, but I figure if it's good enough for the standard stuff kept in there, it should be good 'nuff for tea.

[gingkoseto]

I don't feel comfortable about fridges, but still store some tea in a fridge. I don't let tea share fridge with other things. I also feel very nervous about putting open-sealed tea packs in fridge, even when the tea is wrapped layer after layer. I know some people just put tea in freezer, but I don't like the tea in a freezer or under 0C. I don't entirely trust the fridge. Some fridges when you set it to 4C, it can freeze so I set the temperature of my tea fridge at about 8C.

I don't know why but I just don't like fridges and always feel cautious about them. If I hadn't got this much tea, for smaller amount, I wouldn't like to use a fridge for tea at all. I believe most green tea can be preserved well for 6 months in a cool, dark, dry cabinet. Oolong is even easier. But I live in New England and totally love the climate here. Climate of some other regions may be much harder to deal with

Another advantage of using fridge for tea storage is that you can save space by putting the fridge in your basement, which is otherwise cannot possibly be used for tea storage.

[Wesli]

I know chip has one, a lot of other people store tea in the fridge. The topic often comes up when talking about japanese green tea but I'm curious about the aspects of the tea fridge in a more general sense.

Can/Should all teas in sealed packages be stored in a tea fridge until they are ready to be open and used?

What is an appropriate temperature to have a tea fridge at? I have a little white mini fridge that really isn't be used for much of anything else, so I plan on wiping it all out and using it as a tea fridge.

Finally, what else should I know about maintaining a tea fridge?

You can store all teas where freshness is desired, though greens are the only ones I've heard of being fridged.

You want the temperature to be just above freezing.

Tea fridge should be clean, free of scent. Once you take your bags out, you need to let them warm to room temp before opening them, or else they'll absorb moisture. This is why you can only put sealed teas in the teafridge.

[Chip]

If you don't know by now that I do refridge ...Just google TeaFridge. I think my epitaph will read, "He had a TeaFridge!"

Greens, Whites, and greener oolongs.

[PolyhymnianMuse]

I don't feel comfortable about fridges, but still store some tea in a fridge. I don't let tea share fridge with other things. I also feel very nervous about putting open-sealed tea packs in fridge, even when the tea is wrapped layer after layer. I know some people just put tea in freezer, but I don't like the tea in a freezer or under 0C. I don't entirely trust the fridge. Some fridges when you set it to 4C, it can freeze so I set the temperature of my tea fridge at about 8C.

I don't know why but I just don't like fridges and always feel cautious about them. If I hadn't got this much tea, for smaller amount, I wouldn't like to use a fridge for tea at all. I believe most green tea can be preserved well for 6 months in a cool, dark, dry cabinet. Oolong is even easier. But I live in New England and totally love the climate here. Climate of some other regions may be much harder to deal with

Another advantage of using fridge for tea storage is that you can save space by putting the fridge in your basement, which is otherwise cannot possibly be used for tea storage.

As others have said too, I think its pretty obvious (atleast for anyone who understands how water condenses) to not store bags back in the fridge once opened.

So lemme just get this straight though, you don't have any particular reason for not liking to store your tea in a fridge?

I think what I'm going to do since this fridge doesnt have a digital readout of temp, just the numbered dial to turn cooler or warmer, is throw a digital thermometer in there for a couple days and check it every now and then to get it as close to perfect as I can.

[bi lew chun]

So lemme just get this straight though, you don't have any particular reason for not liking to store your tea in a fridge?

As she said, it makes her nervous. It makes me nervous, too. Without a perfectly airtight unopened container, the risk of moisture contamination seems to outweigh the potential benefits, IMO. Mylar/foil pouches can develop pinpoint holes at the seams/edges, and defects that might not be visible to the naked eye could still let in moisture and fridge smell.

Obviously an unopened tin of matcha is a different story.

[gingkoseto]

So lemme just get this straight though, you don't have any particular reason for not liking to store your tea in a fridge?

Yeah it's pretty much mental. Besides, I feel fridge to green tea is like skincare to skin, it helps a bit, but nothing can stop or even significantly slow down aging process

[thanks]

I would only store anything in a fridge that's not oolong, pu'er, or black tea (unless it's in an improper storage container to begin with, which is a whole other problem).