How do you guys store your unopened sencha?

[GARCH]

So, as per the subject, I need some ideas on how to store my unopened bags of sencha. I just received a sudden spike in supply of sencha from the recent NOTTI (thanks Chip!) and from Maiko. From zero to 400g worth of it , all deciding to arrive today. Not complaining though

Is it alright to just store it unrefrigerated, in situations whereby it's opened and unopened?

[chingwa]

I store my tea in a box away from the kitchen... usually in a closet to keep it away from too much heat/sunlight. I usually try and keep just one bag open at a time (though, it's hard sometimes ) to make sure they don't start turning on me before I'm able to finish them.

I've never kept tea in the refrigerator.

[BrooklynBrew]

I don't do anything special with it other than keep it with other greens because once I open one I just drink it till I'm done (and I think I drink enough to not have the bags sit for long). I usually have a green going at home and at work. The only exception I have to this is I also keep a bag of houjicha going because it's one of my evening teas of choice (the other being rooibos).

[Chip]

When my parents downsized, I "inherited" their lil cube fridge ... and the "TeaFridge" was born!

It is perfect for storing as much sencha as I will likely ever have around for personal and OTTI/NOTTI use.

So, I store unopened bags in it. Sometimes I will virtually reseal half a bag (50 grams) in order to maintain freshness if I feel I may not fisnish it soon enough ... but I do not recommend the practice as it has risk.

[GARCH]

Ahh, thanks for the input guys! My bags of sencha are now all sitting in the storeroom where it's cooler and dry.

I do have a small fridge too Chip! However I have not inherited it from my Mum yet it's still stocked with all her age defying moisturisers and lotions I'm sure she wouldn't mind a few bags of unopened sencha in it. I suppose before you open a new bag taken from the fridge, it's best to let it acclimatize to room temperature first?

[Chip]

YES!!!!! Definitely at least allow the package to warm to room temp lest you want condensation on your tea leaves.

Also, if there are aromas lurking in mum's fridge, best to not put any tea in it ... even though the packaging should be airtight. Just not worth the risk.

[GARCH]

YES!!!!! Definitely at least allow the package to warm to room temp lest you want condensation on your tea leaves.

Also, if there are aromas lurking in mum's fridge, best to not put any tea in it ... even though the packaging should be airtight. Just not worth the risk.

Okay! Yeah the fridge is a cocktail of aromas. The air wafting out is probably enough to rejuvenate sagging skin It would suck if my sencha stash tastes/smells like that.
Thanks Chip as always

[sherubtse]

Like Chip, I store my *unopened* Japanese teas in the fridge, bottom shelf, placed in a sealed plastic bag. I will pull a bag out 24 hrs. before I first wish to use it to allow it to come to room temperature. During those 24 hours, I will shake the leaves up a bit, especially if the bag has been nitrogen-flushed. Of course, once the bag is open it does not go back into the fridge.

This system has worked well for me thus far.

Best wishes,
sherubtse

[Chip]

One small detail, after opening, it seems best to allow fresh air in, then reclose ... allow to sit a day. This wakes up the leaves after their slumber.

If I am in a rush and want to try a newly opened bag sooner, I will pace a single serving into a natsume or similar, maybe even leave the lid off for an hour or two.

Some may not agree that the leaves need to be re-awakened ... I just seem to feel that if I brew up leaves from a bag I literally just opened, the tea can taste soft.

[sherubtse]

One small detail, after opening, it seems best to allow fresh air in, then reclose ... allow to sit a day. This wakes up the leaves after their slumber.

Yes, a very good point. This is in fact what I do -- when I shake the leaves up after opening, I do so with the bag completely open. I neglected to fully explain this in my post above. So thanks for reminding me of this, Chip.

Best wishes,
sherubtse

[Chip]

... got your back ...

[GARCH]

Okay I've opened up 1 bag of the Kuritawase sencha from the Notti and letting it rest for the whole of today. Tomorrow I shall finally taste this uber sencha thanks for the tips guys!

[corban123]

Well, I have a nice sort of bookcase in my dorm, so I just keep them there near all my cooking utensils and such.

[miig]

Hmm, lets revive this thread a little - I got a question here. I'm about to stock on some Sencha and Matcha, and am thinking about the storage. The thing ist that our fridge here is very full, but there's always a lot of space in the freezer. Do you think that it would be advisable to use the freezer for storing the, of course unopened, packages?

The thing that got me worried is the condition that fruits and vegetables have when they come out - i'm not a chemist but they look to me like the had been cooked - so don't know whether this will be worse than having the tea stored at room temp for a couple of months.

Also, how important do you consider cooled storage in general?

thanks already !

[miig]

P.S.: part of the answer is here:

http://teaguardian.com/dialogues/discus ... freezer/p1

Quote from a user, not the site owner:

Simply, freezing in one's home freezer produces low density water cristals in meat cells, thus breaking the cell membrane and releasing all the content as a watery solution

This seems very plausible to me, still any kind of opinion from your side is highly appreciated