Tea storage?

148 Replies
jones5874 said

(I’m new here)
Suggestion: if I have extra tins from a specific company with large/obvious labels (that I have used up or don’t like), I cover/replace them with interesting origami paper and relabel. Why get rid of a perfectly good tin? Makes your cupboard space more interesting if you have variety!

Jillian said

That’s a cool idea, I’ll have to remember it.

Aiko said

I… should probably do something like that, but I’m so lazy. I still have this big square elaborately decorated tin from Adagio that has “cranberry” written all over it and pictures of cranberries everywhere, and it’s just sitting there with four or five sad pieces of ragged masking tape sitting atop eachother, the most recent of which reads, “Irish Breakfast”. Your tins sound so much nicer.

jones5874 said

It can be a bit fussy cutting it to fit correctly and using double-sided tape, but it’s worth it. I still use bright yellow duct tape on the top for my labels, though. Nothing fancy.

SimplyJenW said

I usually find paper that is really gorgeous in the scrapbooking aisle. Sometimes wrapping paper is great, too.

cteresa said

I do that, as well (though with other tins, for some reason I always keep original labels, even if I do not like the tea or design, dunno why!). like this

http://www.flickr.com/photos/cteresa/6959177033/

pretty easy (I am lazy). If tin is cylindrical, I just measure very carefully its height and cut carefully (taking out 1 mm) a strip of paper that height and about 4 times the diameter of the tin. I tape, normal tape one end of the strip, roll it carefully, the paper will overlap and glue it as tight as possible. a friend has suggested treating with mod podge but so far have not tried it.

I glue a label on top and a label on top of label etc, if necessary. since it´s not (yet) treated, pretty easy to remove and redo it i want to.

jones5874 said

^ Nice photo – really colorful.

Now I’m inspired to make more; I will have to remember to dig around at my folks’ place the next time I visit. They have some old tins sitting around (many with seriously expired, tasteless tea in them…).

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Scott B said

Less elegant, one could use colored construction paper to label over pre-printed tins.

jones5874 said

Good idea – anything works, really. Some day I might splurge on some nice paper from Paper Source or some place like that. Though right now I don’t even have any spare tins.

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Scott B said

Thanks. I just have a couple old RoT tins that I have been either putting the same type of tea in or just remembering what I put in it. Some colored paper of some kind over the label would be nice.

SimplyJenW said

I think the labels come off of those pretty easily. I sometimes soak them and then use a product like Goo Gone to get the adhesive off.

Scott B said

Cool, thanks.

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TeaVivre said

How to properly store the tea seems very important to us, because most of us have collected so many different types of teas. I think whatever method to be used in the storage of tea, the utmost important thing is to keep the tea in its original flavor. So when you prepare to store the tea, just keep away these factors: light, air, heat, moisture, and odor, because these enemies are the reasons to cause the tea gradually lose its flavor. So except the tins or Jars, the best containers for storing tea are glazed ceramics, non-reactive metals and plastic containers which will not absorb smells or flavors.

If you’re interested in the storage of the tea, you can find the detailed information through here: http://www.teavivre.com/info/proper-storage-of-tea/

Tips: Do not store your teas in wooden containers or plastic sandwich bags as these will degrade the quality of the tea as well.

That’s a very cute little tea tin about a third of the way down that page (the Airtight section).

Are you guys planning on adding something like that to your teaware offerings?

TeaVivre said

yes, we will add the tea tins on our site in future!

Mikee said

Nice link, thanks. I’m struggling to find a nice collection of tins in the UK. There are some nice jars at Adagio, but they’re glass. Are glass jars that don’t allow UV light through ok:
http://www.adagio.com/teaware/glass_jar.html
or is it more that just the ultra violet that’s harmful to the tea?

Thanks

TeaVivre said

This glass jar will absorb light, and it will influence the tea’s flavor.

Mikee said

Oh :( Thank you for the reply.

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Azzrian said
jones5874 said

The first one is the exact size I am looking for! The price is good, too.

However, I just bought another gaiwan (impulse buy!) so I will stick to resealable bags for my new teas for now.

Azzrian said

There is always next month :)

jones5874 said

I still need more tea, though! So maybe a few more months before I get around to finding better tea storage options. But I could look at teaware porn all day, so keep posting.

Meanwhile, I will be crossing my fingers that my gaiwan does not arrive broken…

Azzrian said

Where did you get your gaiwan from and what does it look like? :)
Yeah more tea > storage

jones5874 said

A colorful old dragon gaiwan from a seller on ebay – my first time bidding for something. It was strange; I generally prefer to buy something in a store where I can look at it.

Azzrian said

Congrats!! :) I hope you love it!

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I use a mason jar for my one lonely thing of loose leaf tea, and its been fine since December.

Azzrian said

So what is your ONE special loose leaf tea? :)

Teavana’s Rooibos chai…don’t pick on me, I haven’t had the chance to buy any more loose leaf yet X_X

Azzrian said

Nothing wrong with that. :)

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We bought a Republic of Tea rooibos canister today at World Market, and I took the outside packaging off. Unfortunately, they use like a super sticky glue underneath that label, so I had a very sticky, albeit blank, canister with a red lid.

So, taking a page from cteresa’s book, I put a piece of paper around it. Then I had a blank white piece of paper, so I had to start doodling.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v359/Telepathboy/Tea%20and%20Things/TeaTins-SelfDecorating01.jpg

I see some interesting personalized cans in my future!

Azzrian said

Lookin good! So check this out – from someone else’s post on another thread – sorry to the person who posted I don’t rememeber your name I am half asleep and woke from a dead sleep and now can’t go back to sleep – this site has TONS and I mean TONS of cool stuff under 10 bucks!
This link should take you to the 0 -10 price range but if not just look to the left side of the screen and select that – tea caddies, tins, cups, tea pots, glass pots, tea samples, ETC GALORE for under 10 bucks and a lot of nice tins and such for under 3 each. I am floored at this selection! http://jkteashop.com/index.php?main_page=advanced_search_result&pfrom=0&pto=10

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When I first started drinking tea, and trying to see what different kinds were like, I’d buy the less expensive Chinese teas which often came in colorful square or cylindrical double sealed tins. Some of them were so attractive, I just kept them and used them with new tea. In fact there are still half a dozen I liked so much, I still have and use them. Most oriental supermarkets will stock lots of teas sold in those tins.

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Kiaharii said

Does anyone know where to get wash tins apart from Teavana?

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Mikee said

In case my post above is missed, can I put it here too :)

re http://www.teavivre.com/info/proper-storage-of-tea/
Nice link, thanks. I’m struggling to find a nice collection of tins in the UK. There are some nice jars at Adagio, but they’re glass. Are glass jars that don’t allow UV light through ok:
http://www.adagio.com/teaware/glass_jar.html
or is it more that just the ultra violet that’s harmful to the tea?

Thanks

Kiaharii said

I think it’s just the UV. I have Adagio tins that having a plastic top that blocks UV/whatever light. I’d assume the glass they sell does the same. It’s nice to be able to see teas, but I do wish they were a bit more streamlined. The hinges make them a bit clunky.

I ordered some tins from Speciality Bottle, I don’t know if there is something similar in the UK or if they ship there. They’re at my parents house though so I haven’t had a chance to check them out.

Mikee said

They say the glass stops UV light, so should be fine I guess. I rescued a couple of old tea tins from my mum’s today, washed them and they both leaked water. Not really what I’m after.

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