Teavana tea tin containers

[ABx]

You can get canning jar attachments for standard kitchen vacuum sealers. It's an attachment that fits around the mouth of the jar and holds the inner lid up while it sucks out the air. When the vacuum is achieved, it sucks down the lid. You can then put the threaded collar on to make sure it doesn't accidentally get pulled off My parents had one when I was a teenager, and it was really nice. You can find these attachments around.

In regards to the OP, the thing to keep in mind is that airtight and watertight are different things. The tins don't need to withstand much pressure to be airtight, but water is a different story (much more pressure to push out the water). Some of the best tins I have (keep greens fresh for 6 months to a year) will leak a bit of water. Of course it doesn't hurt to get something like the ceramic caddies (or other) for your finer stuff if you're still worried about it

[Geekgirl]

The Teavana tins definitely are not the best, though they're not terrible. (BTW, for any on the oolong pass: there is now a Teavana tin in the box if anyone wants to check out the so-called quality.)

My biggest complaint is not the problem with being air-tight - they are still better than storing in a ziplock, or any number of other storage solutions. It's that I think they must coat them with something, because if you store something with a really strong odor in the Teavana tins, it is impossible to kill the smell.

I had the cherry sencha (I know! I was a n00b!) in one of their tall tins for about a year. Finally wised up and threw it out about 3-4 months back. Since then I have washed, air dried, baking soda washed, vinegar soaked, let sit in the sun, and left sitting open on the counter for over a month. Guess what? Still smells like candied cherries. blech. total loss.

I'm slowly getting rid of all of those tins though. I had quite a few of them. They're not cheap either so I was irritated.

[horsencl]

Those are what I use and I think they work pretty well. My local Wegman's has them in the tea section so I usually pick up one or two whenever I go grocery shopping. I've used them with black, green, white with success and am currently using them for mint and rose petals. I don't know if they're exactly airtight but my teas have never tasted as though they were not fresh.

[silverneedles]

those i think are pretty much like teavana's
with the container's top edge is rolled inside
and most likely the "lip" inside the lid is hard plastic if its cheap

[Geekgirl]

I agree they are very similar to TeaVana. But it's hard to say with just a picture. The lid on the TV tin has a hard plastic insert, I wonder if soft plastic or rubber would make a significant difference. Maybe?

I personally prefer double lid tins, but they can be hard to find in small sizes and for reasonable prices.

[silverneedles]

scuse the crude representation

the ones on the left are "regular" aluminium tins as sold by teavana or others
so if the grey "lip" thing is softer it would help some by molding around the rolled edge as opposed to hard plastic which would create only a small contact surface

the ones on the right i speculate what ocha's may be like (tho i dont have any)

[Pentox]

I actually have some in both the style of the upton tin and the teavana tin. While neither are terribly great the Teavana type tin is actually better. But having had both of them I would not suggest buying either.

[Pentox]

scuse the crude representation

the ones on the left are "regular" aluminium tins as sold by teavana or others
so if the grey "lip" thing is softer it would help some by molding around the rolled edge as opposed to hard plastic which would create only a small contact surface

the ones on the right i speculate what ocha's may be like (tho i dont have any)

The one that Chip posted the image of from o-cha is similar to how you drew it, but slightly different. One of the key things is a second rubbery/plastic lid on the inside of the tin. A similar one as the second lid of the common washi tins. (I don't actually own one of the o-cha ones, i've just seen them in a few stores, similar to the point where i'm confident it is the same tin).

[Chip]

The one from O-Cha that I pictured is like the one of the right, sort of. The overlap is huge, and there is a lot of resistance due to vacuum as I pull it off. In addition, there is the inner plug type second lid. There ain't no air getting in the thing. It is a great tin. If they had more styles, I would have every one.

In addition, NO side or bottom seams, period.

Regarding an earlier water getting through but not air, I am not so sure in the case of a tin that this is entirely true. (and definitely not for a zip lock). Something can be water tight, like Gore Tex and be very breathable. If a liquid such as water can pass though seams in a tin, I believe a gas can even more easily. I understand the pressure aspect of the liquid being greater with a liquid.

As I said before, I am way too OCD over this.

[Pentox]

As I said before, I am way too OCD over this.

Have you considered shielding your tea from Gamma radiation?

[Chip]

As I said before, I am way too OCD over this.

Have you considered shielding your tea from Gamma radiation?

Lead sheild in place, now what to do about the lead in my tea?

[Pentox]

As I said before, I am way too OCD over this.

Have you considered shielding your tea from Gamma radiation?

[ABx]

The one from O-Cha that I pictured is like the one of the right, sort of. The overlap is huge, and there is a lot of resistance due to vacuum as I pull it off. In addition, there is the inner plug type second lid. There ain't no air getting in the thing. It is a great tin. If they had more styles, I would have every one.

In addition, NO side or bottom seams, period.

Regarding an earlier water getting through but not air, I am not so sure in the case of a tin that this is entirely true. (and definitely not for a zip lock). Something can be water tight, like Gore Tex and be very breathable. If a liquid such as water can pass though seams in a tin, I believe a gas can even more easily. I understand the pressure aspect of the liquid being greater with a liquid.

As I said before, I am way too OCD over this.

Think of it like water-resistant wrist watches. They're water proof down to a certain depth, but beyond that the pressure is too great and the water will seep in and destroy the watch. Same thing with the tea. I'm sure that some are better than others, but since the pressure is going to be equal on both sides of the tin, there shouldn't be any air leaking in. The bottom line is just that being water-tight and air-tight are two different things.

I additionally have some ceramic tea containers with a rubber gasket and a latch that I keep my best teas in. They don't keep teas particularly fresher than the tins I have, but they're definitely both water and air-tight. Of course it all depends on how much you open the canister (tin or other), too.

[silverneedles]

hmm pressures,
but how does it explain migration of fumes(of earl grey for example)