Official *What did you get in the mail today?* Thread!!!

I think there are too many problems associated with storing in the fridge to do this. I think the best way to store loose tea is in an air and light tight tin. With the fridge if there is even a small opening in the packaging your tea will get moisture added to it. There can also be problems associated with removing tea from the fridge and you may ruin it as you remove it. In theory if you have a package with a factory seal it is probably alright to store it in the fridge. But I would let it come to room temperature before I opened it.

I’ve been refrigerating a lot of my green teas this year and I’ve had good success with most of them. It’s helped extend their shelf life. A couple of them though didn’t work out, most likely due to operator error. Like you said, it works best with already sealed tea. The other thing is to let them sit at room temperature for several hours after removing from the fridge. I follow Hojo’s recommendation and leave the tea out for 24-48 hours before opening:

http://hojotea.com/item_e/g16e.htm
“When the bag is withdrawn from the fridge, it is cold inside the bag and therefore causes negative pressure. Air will be drawn from outside and water condensation will take place. In addition, if the bag is frequently taken in and out from the fridge, this will cause heat stress to the tea leaves as temperature is increased and decreased very frequently. If tea is kept in the fridge, when it is withdrawn from the fridge, it is necessary to leave it in ambient atmosphere for more than 24 hours in order to warm up the tea leaves. Based on our experience, 12 hours is not long enough. We may think tea is warmed up, but inside the bag, the tea leaves are still cold due to insulation.”

did you ever try a vacuum seal with moisture pack? My science brain is telling me that it shouldnt have any problems but I know that is not often how it happens

I’ve been researching oxygen absorber packets. They can be a little tricky to use. They come in packs of 100 which you have to reseal immediately or they start heating up upon exposure to air and quickly become useless.

I portion Japanese green teas into 15-20g small zip bags that I refrigerate and take out one at a time. Unfortunately my manual sealer can’t handle these bags. Chinese green tea typically isn’t vacuum sealed to begin with. So I buy them in small quantities and store unopened bags in the fridge.

You gotta be careful with vacuum sealers though because consumer grade equipment like FoodSaver can crush delicate teas like strip oolongs. If you think about it, these machines were designed for sturdier items like meat and cheese.

Is that all puerh from chawang? Anything else?

No, just puerh, two raw the rest ripe. No Hei Cha this order.

Haha you buy a lot of puerh