The basics of tea storage are pretty simple – you decant your fresh tea into an airtight container and then stash it away in a dry, dark place like your kitchen cupboard.

Easy peasy, right?

But there is slightly more to the matter of proper tea storage, especially if you want to not only preserve your tea, its taste and all its benefits – but make them even better.

Why does tea need to be stored in a particular manner?

You might be wondering why you can’t simply leave your teabags in the packaging, or why there’s even big discussions surrounding tea storage in the first place.

Does it really matter?

Yes, it does. When tea is left to its own devices and exposed to the general atmosphere of your home, it can become oxidized.

Now, it’s important to note that different types of tea will react to oxygen exposure in different ways.

Green teas and herbal teas are at most risk from oxidization; this is because there is little to no oxygen exposure during their production process. Think of it like an immune system that has never been exposed to any kind of illness, virus or bug; when the time comes, the bug is going to hit that much harder.

Once oxidization takes hold in these types of tea, the taste and quality of the resulting brew can be heavily damaged and deteriorate over time, unless you quickly store the tea in an airtight container to seal it all away.

On the flipside, some teas are intentionally oxidized during their production process as part of their flavoring, such as black tea. So it’s not quite as important to store these oxidized teas (think oolong tea) in airtight containers, as they have little chance of continuing to deteriorate after production.

How long does tea remain fresh?

Much the same as the deterioration issue; the freshness of your tea will depend on the type of tea leaves themselves.

For example, black tea – as we’ve already discussed – is heavily oxidized (read: ‘deteriorated’) during its production, which means that it can stay fresh for up to two years, usually.

Naturally, the longer you leave it or store it, the more its taste will gradually start to deplete; but this is usually characterized by a certain blandness in flavor, as opposed to anything particularly nasty.

But if you look to something like green tea, or standard breakfast tea, you might find that they begin to lose their fresh, vibrant flavors and aromas within only a few months of storage.

However, according to Rate Tea, a 2009 study showed that there is actually some argument for green tea staying fresh much longer than is commonly thought.

This dissertation consisted of a tasting panel who tested many different green teas aged between 3 to 24 months. This particular study’s results showed that green tea alterations were nominal in the first year of storage and only slightly worse within the second year .

This makes it difficult to really tell how long your tea may remain fresh; instead suggesting that it might be best to play it by ear.

What about intentional aging, in that case?

All of this being said, it’s widely known that some teas can actually be ‘aged’ intentionally to alter their flavour or potency – much like you might store a wine or whiskey for longer periods, in order for them to mature.

Tea variations such as pu-erh, can actually improve in taste, over time, if they are stored appropriately. When we say ‘appropriately’, we’re really once again talking about how exposed to oxygen the tea is.

When it comes to pu-erh tea, the less airtight the better; as this type of leaf is rich with live bacterial cultures (much like a strong cheese), which help to cultivate a more refined taste over time.

There are different schools of thought on how to store particular teas with the intention of aging them, for example the Tea-Obsession blog states that, ‘What kind of tea is suitable for aging? Basically any tea. The fundamental requirement is keeping leaf moisture below 5%’.

But if we were to, instead, take what WorldofTea.org suggest, we’d find it to be a much more complex and selective process. They argue that hermetic seal storage (that is, completely sealing the tea away from outside air) still leaves a small pocket of oxygen within the container itself, which can gradually age and oxidize the tea over time.

This type of storage would apply to standard teas which you want to keep fresh, for as long as possible, as well as oolong teas – which you would leave for years or more to gradually age.

However, as mentioned with regard to pu-erh and similar types of tea leaf, for a more oxygenated aging process, you want to store bacteria-rich teas in a dark, cool area but with some access to the atmosphere and subsequent moisture so that they can ferment and enrich as time ticks by.

If that all seems a bit difficult or confusing, take this as a summary: pu-erh and similar fermented teas will age well, and improve with time, if they are not stored in airtight containers.

More regular types of tea and teabag will stay fresher for longer when they are stored in airtight, dry containers – but, the longer you leave them the more likely they are to age and deteriorate which might be great news for something like an oolong tea, but a disaster for green or breakfast teas!

Stale tea – to drink or to throw away?

Admittedly, sometimes accidents happen. You might forget about your stored tea, or maybe you’ve underestimated how much air was actually caught in your supposedly airtight container. All you can say for certain is that this tea is stale.

You don’t always have to immediately toss it away, however – what a waste! Instead, try mixing the tea in with some stronger flavors, such as lemon juice, traces of mint, other strains of tea, whatever you want.

About the worst thing that can happen to old teas is that they lose their flavor – and benefits – but there’s virtually no risk of food poisoning so if you can mask the taste…drink up.

Or get creative! Even if you don’t want to drink it, you can always use old, moldy or stale tea as an addition to any gardening mulch you may have, or as fertilizer for smaller household plants.

Okay, so how do I store my tea?

Forget complex aging and refining my teas – I just want to know how to store them!

We get it – not everybody is going to be interested in how best to store their more classy teas, for refinement and aging.

Some of us just want a solid, good old fashioned cup of tea when we reach into the cupboard – so what is the best way to store it for freshness over, say, a few weeks or months?

Here’s a simple guide on how to store your tea.