Storage/Longevity of Green Oolongs
Hey guys, I asked this question on reddit the other day, but haven’t gotten any response, so figured I’d try here too. How long will green(er) oolongs keep in the vacuum packed pouches they often come in? And how long would they stay good after they’ve been taken out and put into a tin? Thanks!
I would think you in general get a year out of them, maybe a bit more but I would think a year. You might actually get longer but I should think at least a year.
Glad someone mentioned this because I too been searching for ways to extend the freshness of my green tea and oolongs.
From my experience, green oolongs start deteriorating as soon as you open the bag. Some go south within a couple of weeks despite being kept in an airtight tin. It’s super frustrating to spend money on high quality tea only for it to lose much of its flavor shortly after opening the package.
To combat this, I store all my tea in the coldest room in my house, away from humidity in airtight containers. I also purchase in small quantities, typically 25g or less, and open just a few packages at a time. Recently, I’ve begun experimenting with refrigerating tea to extend shelf life. All tea vendors vacuum pack and refrigerate their tea, so it stands to reason that unopened tea will keep longer if you put it in the fridge until ready to drink.
Ah, is it that soon? I have definitely noticed a change in some of my green oolong over a few months, didnt realise it could even be a few weeks
It varies from tea to tea but after some time, many start to lose their oomph.
Also another tip for preserving freshness is to minimize the air space in your storage tin. As Dr Jim mentioned, oxygen causes tea to degrade. I used to put tea directly in the tin but now I keep it inside the pouch and stuff the pouch in the tin with excess air squeezed out. That seems to help slow the loss the flavor.
The thing that causes the aging is oxygen. For vacuum-packed tea, the deterioration should be much slower, but I don’t have a specific number. In chemistry class many years ago, I learned that the rate of a chemical reaction doubles for every 10 degree C increase in temperature, so the fridge at about 5 C will more than double the life (at the possible risk of attracting moisture when the package is opened).
Oolong tea is a kind of semi-fermented tea, and its shelf life is about 2 years. But for loose leaf Oolong tea in bulk, the shelf life will be shorter. Here is an example of non-roasted or semi-roasted Oolong tea, Qingxiang (清香) Tie Guan Yin, or Taiwan Wen-Shan Pouchong, it can stay good at least 18 months if you keep them in fridge. Whereas, tea undergoes roasted process, such as Wuyi Rock tea, which can also have a nice flavor even keep it more than 2 years.
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