# Opinion on Tea Bag storage?



## backwoods (Sep 12, 2004)

What do you think is the best way to store tea bags for long term storage? Am thinking of packing them into jars and vacuum sealing. Anyone have a better way? Is there any reason not to store it this way? Any idea how long it would keep?


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## Texasdirtdigger (Jan 17, 2010)

I vacuum pak mine......I know thwy keep for a minimum of 5 yrs....'cause I am usung some now that are 5 yrs old. They taste fine.


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## Forerunner (Mar 23, 2007)

Just keep them out of Boston harbor.


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## meddac (Nov 21, 2008)

When we go up to PA my wife stocks up on Salada tea and I know they are over 6yrs old with nothing done to them and they are fine. With vacuum packing I imagine you could go way beyond ten yrs.


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## hoggie (Feb 11, 2007)

If you buy loose tea, it comes already vacuum packed


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## unregistered29228 (Jan 9, 2008)

I vacuum seal mine too - I think exposure to air would break down the tea and make it tasteless in just a couple of years. I have some that's 3 years old that tastes fine. And I have one 10 year old can of real jasmine blossom tea that is still good too. I'm rationing that tea because I can't get any more of it - I bought it at a small tea makers shop in Indonesia. The man picked and dried his own blossoms and packed several cans for me as I waited. Keeping it sealed tightly has kept it nice all these years.

Tea is something I stock a lot of because it's more shelf stable than coffee and it's a nice pick-me-up on cold days. It's refreshing on hot days and sometimes tea is all a vomiting person can keep down.


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## backwoods (Sep 12, 2004)

hoggie said:


> If you buy loose tea, it comes already vacuum packed


I know this is a dumb question, but how much loose tea is equal to a reg. tea bag? I've only used tea "bags."


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## mekasmom (Jan 19, 2010)

I just drop mine in big glass jars, and stick them on the shelf. You could even keep them in the box, but they get crushed that way, and don't stack well IMO. That's why I use jars.


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## hoggie (Feb 11, 2007)

backwoods said:


> I know this is a dumb question, but how much loose tea is equal to a reg. tea bag? I've only used tea "bags."


I don't drink tea myself but, if my memory serves me correctly, when you make loose tea in a pot you put in one tsp per person and one for the pot


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## BoldViolet (Feb 5, 2009)

I was pondering just this topic today. Thanks for reading my mind, backwoods.


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## forfreedom (Dec 3, 2008)

backwoods said:


> I know this is a dumb question, but how much loose tea is equal to a reg. tea bag? I've only used tea "bags."


Loose tea is much cheaper and much better quality than bags. 1 teaspoon of loose tea for a normal cup of tea. Strain and enjoy. I buy Coffee Bean tea on Amazon.


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## unregistered29228 (Jan 9, 2008)

If you drink loose tea, get a tea ball. It keeps the leaves out of your cup and makes it easy to dunk it up and down to steep. The first picture on this blog is what I'm talking about (although the blog says it's unnecessary):

http://mysteepedidentitea.blogspot.com/2011/01/unnecessary-tea-accessories.html


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## DryHeat (Nov 11, 2010)

What I've seen about loose teas is that the green tea varieties will deteriorate fairly quickly, but fermented types like pu-erh and maybe black tea will last for a long time and even improve with years' aging. A local Asian market sells tins of puerh at around $3.50 for 5.3 oz (a tad over $10/lb), so even though it seems to be a secondary grade (looks like a lot of stems and twigs in it), I'm gradually stocking up on that rather than unfermented types. Any of the loose teas, I've found brew acceptably for me and DW in a Keureg with a loose-coffee adapter cup. Just pack one near full of loose tea and brew 5 or so cups from that same loading. Seems to brew pretty well doing that, I'd rec anyone with a Keurig test the idea, anyway. I'll likely use a vac sealer to store some half-pound quantities as I accumulate them.


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## sisterpine (May 9, 2004)

We drink iced tea here...lots of iced tea! I keep stocking up and then next thing I know it is time to stock up again. I am going to figure out "today" how much in tea bags we need for a year and see if I can gather that much up cause this is just nuts! It does come in boxes that are sealed in celophane and that seems to keep it fresh as long as the celophane is not ripped of punctured.


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## mpennington (Dec 15, 2012)

Texasdirtdigger said:


> I vacuum pak mine......I know thwy keep for a minimum of 5 yrs....'cause I am usung some now that are 5 yrs old. They taste fine.


 Can't believe I haven't been doing this. :smack I vacuum seal everything - but never thought to seal my tea  I am on Amazon's automatic ship for PG Tips tea bags and buy 1 pound bags of Frontier loose tea through a co-op. Have boxes and boxes of different herbal teas. 

I use an ingenuiTEA from Adagio.com to prepare loose tea. Loose tea and boiling water steep in a lidded container with a moveable mesh bottom that sits up on little legs. After the tea has steeped, container is set on top of a mug. The mug pushes up the strainer bottom and causes the tea to flow through into the mug, leaving the tea leaves in the container. A little like a french press in reverse.


My DS brought me some tea home from Sri Lanka about 12 years ago. I'm rationing that - it has kept well in a stoneware crock that has a silicon seal under a lid that is shut with metal clamps. I'm going to move remainder to a mason jar and vacuum seal.

Thanks so much for mentioning vacuum sealing.


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## naturelover (Jun 6, 2006)

Teas are like any other dried herbs. Air, light, dampness and excess heat/cold can cause dried herbs to deteriorate rapidly so if you're going to be storing it long term keep it as air tight as possible (vacuum packed is good if possible) and store in a dark, dry place and preferably in a cool but not a very cold place. If stored that way many herbs, including teas, will keep their potency and fine taste for many years.

I don't have a vacuum sealer for my preps so my bulk teas and medicinal herbs get double-bagged in zip-loc bags, each bag having the air sucked and squeezed out as much as possible. The bags get stored inside stackable cookie tins or big tea tins with tight fitting lids and the tins are kept at low room temperature or a bit cooler.

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