Specialtybottle Tins (and tin questions in general)

[TeaSnobInTraining]

I've been doing some reading on the forum looking for some good, but affordable, tins. I got a few from a local Chinese grocery store that aren't even water tight, to the point that they leaked on me when I rinsed them out after bringing them back from the store, so I'm looking for something a lot better. I drink a lot of different teas with 17 different loose teas in the kitchen right now, so keeping them away from air and being cheap enough so I can buy a ton of them is important. Checking some wholesale places brought me to some nice looking pewter and jade tins, but when the wholesale price was over $100 each that was way out of my price range.

I've read mostly good things about a few of the Specialtybottle tins, with the TWS6 and TTL8 being mentioned specifically. Has anyone used the TLAT6 before? I'm thinking about getting 5kg of tea wholesale and giving it for birthday presents to some people with birthdays coming up. Would the TLAT6 keep the air out? If not, any suggestions for something better?

Should I get tins in different sizes so the tin will be close in size to the amount of tea in it, or will there be a minimal difference in a tin is half full most of the time?

I've been searching and reading in the forum and haven't found answers yet. If I somehow screwed up please link me to the thread and feel free to call me an idiot.

[rabbit]

I just bought a few of them, they are the type of quality you would expect for $1.95 a piece, thin metal but they still look nice and chic, they are fairly tight sealing, they have a rubber gasket in the seal to keep it closed tight (although I don't know if they are water/air tight). IMO it was worth the cheap pricetag, but they get you with shipping.

[TeaSnobInTraining]

Rather than spend a lot of money on something just good for the price, I'd rather buy something that is good and slowly buy more of them over time. Just as long as it is isn't super expensive. The $100+ (wholesale price) tins are a bit out of the budget right now, awesome though they may look.

I'm not too fond of Teavana, and can't stand the look of their tins, but the price seems reasonable if they truly are air tight. Are they known to be good? I don't want to buy 11 pounds of tea and have it lose its taste because it was exposed to the air. A local Chinese grocery store sells their higher end teas in deli-style plastic tubs and I've noticed a loss of quality storing it in there. Rather than buy something I'm going to want to upgrade again in 6 months, I'd rather just buy something better now. I'm already disappointed that I can't find my receipt for my locally purchased "FDA Proved" tins.

[rabbit]

Rather than spend a lot of money on something just good for the price, I'd rather buy something that is good and slowly buy more of them over time. Just as long as it is isn't super expensive. The $100+ (wholesale price) tins are a bit out of the budget right now, awesome though they may look.

I'm not too fond of Teavana, and can't stand the look of their tins, but the price seems reasonable if they truly are air tight. Are they known to be good? I don't want to buy 11 pounds of tea and have it lose its taste because it was exposed to the air. A local Chinese grocery store sells their higher end teas in deli-style plastic tubs and I've noticed a loss of quality storing it in there. Rather than buy something I'm going to want to upgrade again in 6 months, I'd rather just buy something better now. I'm already disappointed that I can't find my receipt for my locally purchased "FDA Proved" tins.

You can buy just 1 or 2 of those tins, you don't need to buy them in wholesale, I bought 6.

There are many other places to buy tea containers, try jkteashop(dot)com

I would never buy 11lbs of tea unless you are planning on starting a business or giving it to everybody you know! Smaller amounts are better IMO.

[wyardley]

The Specialty Bottle tins are fine for the price, but I wouldn't really recommend them, especially for long term storage. Personally, I like ceramic or heavy metal (tin / pewter) jars.

But you will probably do as well storing the tea in heavy stand-up bags as using the jars from SB.

[TeaSnobInTraining]

These are the tins I was referring to a few posts ago. I would love to get something made out of a decent tin or jade, as long as they are somewhat affordable. I had a bit of sticker shock when I saw these. If I can get something of similar quality, but less ornate to drive the price down, that would be ideal.

http://www.dhgate.com/pure-tin-tea-cadd ... 10ede.html

http://www.dhgate.com/days-return-guara ... e39ab.html

I wasn't really planning on buying 11lbs. of tea, but getting this ( http://www.yunnansourcing.com/store/pro ... roduct=325 ) only adds an extra $10 shipping to the order I was going to place anyway. Unless it's REALLY terrible tea, that it too great of a deal to pass up. I love black tea with lychee anyway, so it seems like a good idea on the surface. I'll have a lot of birthday presents to give out during the summer (which is how long that 40-70 day shipping option could take) so it would be some good tea for me, and eliminate the need to do shopping at the same time.

[Drax]

That jade container is only 12x12x16cm. How much tea would that hold...? Maybe 500g?

In any case, have you looked at these types of tins before?

They hold anywhere from 100-200g, and run 3 for 15 or 3 for 18 (of course, there's the shipping, too). But they are very nice canisters.

[TeaSnobInTraining]

I just gave those as an example of something I know to be of high quality. I'd ideally like to find something as good for storing tea, just a lot less expensive. I'm sure a lot of the cost for those comes from the work that goes into making them look so nice.

I have seen those and thought about getting some with a few tea scoops I liked there. Are they air tight? They sell them at a local Japanese grocery store but I wasn't sure if they were a different size. The label didn't say how much tea it holds (not even in Japanese). Do they look a lot smaller in person than those pictures would imply?

[Chip]

They give the dimensions.

[wenpin]

Would you consider Lock & Lock containers? They are Korean-made, come in various sizes and have a silicon gasket for a pretty good airtight seal.

Here is how they look like (random website I found on google): http://www.locknlockplace.com/

Easily available in all supermarkets here and reasonably priced.

[TeaSnobInTraining]

I know they give the dimensions Chip. The physical size on the 100 and 200 gram caddy isn't much different from the measurements they give, hence my question. The 200 gram caddies are only a centimeter taller, and that isn't going to be a measurement I can make in my head from seeing it for 5 seconds a week ago. The one I saw looked so small I doubted it could hold enough tea, which is why I asked if they appear much smaller in person than they do when looking at the pictures. After reading about your experiences with Y-C I'd rather not buy from them if I can avoid it. I can read Japanese so if the information was on the tea caddy I looked at, I wouldn't have had to ask in the first place. I know more about tea than the girls working at the store, so asking them won't help. They can't even remember that I'm the white guy who speaks Japanese.

I just looked at a lot of different Lock & Lock containers and they all appear to be clear. I thought clear containers were supposed to be bad for storing tea because the light is bad for it? Maybe I'm reading too much into things I read here. Can't argue with it being reasonably priced if it's air tight.

[Chip]

TBH, I feel virtually all decorative canisters are too big for tea storage. As you begin to deplete the tea, there is a lot of empty space which = air, oxygen. For instance, if you put 100 grams of a fine sencha into one of the 100 gram canisters from Y-C, and you use half of it, it is half empty. Just NOT good IMHO

Instead I use sample tins from Upton which cost around 60 cents each if you buy a case, which I did, and then place these into decorative canisters. These are seamless and a pretty good deal. I have used them for years.

However the sample tins will not fit into the small canisters from Y-C because they are too narrow. They do however fit nicely into these ... http://store.ryu-mei.com/products/Kamak ... n-Can.html and they have a good selection of this size ... it is wider than the 100 gram one from Y-C.

[kymidwife]

I have a few of the new glass storage jars from Adagio: http://www.adagio.com/teaware/glass_jar ... 7d45d75941 and have so far been very pleased. They are supposed to have some protection built in for light exposure, and I keep them out of direct sunlight anyway. They have a decent seal... I have a strongly-scented tea blend inside one of them, and the odor is not detectable with the lid on... but when the lid comes off, the aroma pops out. The teas inside these jars seem to be staying fresh, although I have not used them for any greens, only for blacks, oolongs, and Darjeelings. The lid makes a little "whoosh" sound as goes on. They are elegant in appearance, and affordable... and if you have frequent cup points with Adagio like I did, they might be free! They are also currently out of stock but supposed to be back in May.

For my greens, I've been putting them in a Foodsaver ziplock bag and vacuuming out the air with my FreshSaver: http://www.qvc.com/qic/qvcapp.aspx/view ... rging-Base So far, I have been amazed at how well my Japanese greens will keep under vac seal. After vac-sealing, I put these bags inside a cannister or inside a cabinet to be protected from the light.

I have a variety of other storage tins, but those 2 methods are my current favorites.

[gingkoseto]

I think it also depends on what tea you store. For most green teas, the best container is only good for storage of 1 year or less, and air tight feature is extremely important. For a lot of roasted oolongs, stainless steel tins, even when just 99% air tight, are good enough for family storage, and the storage environment sometimes is more important than the tins. Although it depends on the environment of a kitchen, usually the kitchen is not an ideal place for tea storage. But I say so mainly because my kitchen has a lot of spices, which may not be the case for every kitchen.

The screw-top tins at specialty bottle are abotu 99.5% air tight. I tested by putting water in one and inverted it. Water didn't leak. But when I shook the tin hard, a few water drops were shaken out. I use some of those for small portions of green teas to put in office drawers or for traveling.

Those slip lid tins labeled "tea can" at SB are not my favorite, but I think they are good enough for most teas. I mean those column shaped ones, not square ones.
http://www.specialtybottle.com/index.as ... ProdID=329

I don't like them mainly because the lid is too tight. One has got to be very careful in order to pull off the lid without spilling the tea. But I still use them sometimes since I think they are inexpensive and good enough for a lot of oolongs and red teas, and more re-usable than mylar bags.