Tins for Tea Storage
I know they have them at some tea stores, and online. I was wondering if there was anywhere I could look? Is that a thing I could find at a craft shop?
(Looking for 1 oz, and 1/2 oz sized tins.)
I love the IKEA tea tins, they have a couple styles and sizes at 3 tins for like $4 tho they might be on the bigger side for what you want. They also have nice magnetic ones that should be about 1oz of tea size.
I’ve used tins from craft stores like Michaels but I find if it isn’t designed for food, the seal is kinda loose. They got tons of tins around christmas time usually around $2.
Places like Walmart and Target and dollar stores sometimes have small tins, check around the kitchen sections and spice racks.
If you look in a craft shop be careful to make sure the tins are designed for consumables. Once I thought I had found the perfect product, but on the bottom it warned against using for food storage.
Afterwards I found this website http://www.artbeads.com/craft-supplies-tin-boxes.html. They were so nice and checked with their manufactured and responded:
“Thank you for your patience while we contacted our vendor regarding your inquiry. All of our items are food safe. ‘Food grade’ essentially means that the product/coating meets all FDA requirements and all components are not harmful for human consumption if food is placed within them. Also, the materials will not rub off or distribute on to any food product.”
Their shipping prices were great compared to most others. However, I never did order from them because I wound up making purchases of tea in tins.
There are a bunch of other threads on this which I will share if I can find them.
Here is some info Steepsters shared a few months back:
http://steepster.com/discuss/5011-do-any-online-tea-sites-sell-empty-tea-tins
Harney & Sons has them the cheapest I’ve found:
- 4 oz for $1: http://www.harney.com/black-empty-tea-tin-4-oz.html
- 8 oz for $1.25 : http://www.harney.com/black-empty-tea-tin-8-oz.html
- 3 lb for $5: http://www.harney.com/black-empty-tea-tin-3-lb.html
If you need smaller tins for samples, EnjoyingTea has small 1 oz ones for 65 cents each: http://www.enjoyingtea.com/smensqca1oz.html
I use the Harney and Enjoyingtea tins and have some concern about how air-tight they are over the long term. Some of the covers seem to be getting loose. I’m thinking of buying some more from Upton. They are flat cylinders and hold a bit more than an ounce. I got a few with a sampler set and they seem to be pretty tight. I am thinking of building a plastic bin that will hold 12-15 in a small space on a kitchen shelf.
http://www.uptontea.com/shopcart/item.asp?from=catalog.asp&itemID=AT05&begin=0&parent=Accessories%3ETeaware%3EStorage&category=Caddies%2C+Tins+and+Bags&sortMethod=0&categoryID=84
Their shipping isn’t bad. I think it’s about $4 flat rate in the US if you don’t hit their free shipping amount.
How much tea to the tins from David’s tea hold? I forgot to look when I was in the shop. (I like the colours they come in.)
The silver ones are free if you buy 100g of a tea, and having the tin gives you a small discount on refills too.
I get a lot of decorative tins at used/consignment stores, salvation army, value village, etc., and at garage sales.
I get most of my tins from Annie’s Tea time. I like the round ones with the gavarst lids the best. Annie’s has several different colors and styles for prices ranging $2-$4.
http://www.anniesteatime.com/mm5/merchant.mvc?Screen=CTGY&Store_Code=att&Category_Code=AC-TT
I was so excited when I found 50g sized tins with the gavarst lids (they hold about 1.5oz of most teas, unless the leaves are small or rolled). Everywhere else, I’ve only seen the really tall ones and most of the teas I need to store aren’t in 4oz quantities. :p
By far the most cost effective tins for me have been the TWS6 model tins from Specialty bottle. They are airtight and hold at least 4oz. of most teas. They also sell good 1-2oz. tins on other areas of their site.
These ones I’m seriously thinking about getting. I like that they are stackable.
http://www.specialtybottle.com/tinsquaredeepcontainer4ozwcleartopcover.aspx
That site has a really great selection of tins. I’ve been wanting to order from them for awhile. But their shipping is so high for what I’d be gettting, I can never make myself hit the order button. Lol.
thumbs up for specialty bottle, great prices but shipping is a bit much. if you are in canada get ready as the handling cost almost doubled the shipping cost.
yeah, figured the handling would be god awful for those of us in canada…figure next time i visit friends in florida i can order something to their place and just bring it back that way sigh
I just ordered from Specialty Bottle. I got two of the TWS4 for the teas I drink regularly (I think it holds 4oz), and I got six of the TSQ4 to store my sample sizes (2oz or less). Including shipping, I paid $21.50. That seems very reasonable to me.
How much tea fits in the Harney & Sons kind? Anyone know the dimensions? And do they say Harney & Sons or are they plain black?
The Harney tin that comes with their 4 oz teas are square with rounded corners. Inner dimension = 2.60", Outer dimension = 2.92". Inside height = 3.475", total height = 3.85".
I’ve never ordered empty canisters, but suspect they come in plain black. I’ve discovered that the labels peel off fairly easily.
I have some of the empty tins and they are black with a bit of “gold” trim on the lid and at the bottom, but nothing marking them from Harney & Sons.
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