Does loose leaf tea expire?
Well, you have clicked on the right article! To start, we will take a good long look at what loose leaf tea actually is and why you should choose it over those little tea baggies that line the shelves of office break rooms and the like! Then, we will get to the bottom of this million tea leaf question, “does loose leaf tea expire?”.
What is a loose leaf tea and why is it awesome?
Loose leaf tea is any kind of tea that is not brewed in a tea bag or sachet. So for example, you may get a tin, a jar, or a bag full of dried leaves or other natural and fantastic ingredients like flower blossoms or other herbs. Loose-leaf tea can come in many different forms. Some loose leaf tea comes in the form of pure true tea leaves. This refers to the leaves of the Camellia Sinensis plant only. So green, black, white, oolong, and pu’erh tea. Many Chinese, Japanese, and Korean teas come in this style like Tieguanyin, sencha, and jakseol tea.
Another type of loose leaf tea is herbal tea. Herbal teas refer to any tea that is assembled from ingredients other than true teas. So instead of green tea, think of rooibos, or some of those fancy sleep teas like our Calming Rest Herbal Blend which includes chamomile, peppermint, and other relaxation promoting herbs devoid of any caffeine.
The third category is actually a mix of these two, which are tea blends. Tea blends refer to a mix of true teas and herbal teas. These blends can be simple like one true tea with maybe one or two other herbs, or it can be a fanciful carnival of ingredients packed with excitement and pizazz. It all depends on what you are seeking in your tea preferences!
But how is loose-leaf better than tea bags?
Loose leaf tea is superior to tea brewed in a bag for a few different keen reasons. First, loose leaves have more room to unfurl and steep in your water. This leads to a fuller, healthier, richer, and more delectable tea brew because your ingredients can really release all of their healthy and delicious goodies. Tea in tea bags get cramped inside those bags and can’t release as much of their amazing tea powers including their fragrance, flavor, and health-enhancing powers.
Another benefit is that you have the freedom to brew your tea as strong or as not so strong as per your tastes. But one of the most salient things that place loose leaf tea in a league all its own compared to tea bags is the fact that most loose leaf tea (like ours!) is of the highest quality we can get our hands-on. Meanwhile, tea bags are often filled with lower-quality tea leaves. You know, shavings from the floor, or twigs and other remains from processing other tea leaves.
Oh, wait, but there is one more cool thing that loose leaf tea has up its sleeve; brewing. Brewing with tea bags is not too spectacular. It usually just goes a little something like this; water gets hot, some steaminess, yada yada yada.
But with loose leaf tea, there is a whole spectacular display and performance the leaves and other herbs can unfurl before you. This is why transparent teapots were developed ages ago, to watch the wondrous dance of the leaves, terrifyingly dubbed the “agony of tea”. Why such a scary name? Well, by some early tea lovers’ assessment, the appearance of the leaves twisting, twirling, and writhing looked like the leaves were being tortured and punished in the boiling hot water. Yikes! Though, we would like to think of the leaves dancing or enjoying themselves instead. The reason is that we certainly enjoy the byproduct of their hot-water display and the incredible results could not possibly be the result of anything agonizing! Loose-leaf blends that feature flower blossoms especially show an incredible scene with color, movement, and a real show for the senses. For these reasons, loose leaf is the way to go. But we have one more reason in store for you! This reason may be the most important of them all, and also one that gets to the heart of our topic at hand.
Does Loose Leaf Tea go bad?
Another great reason to choose loose leaf tea is that it does not go bad. But hold on, the case is not closed just yet! Tea leaves don’t spoil or go bad per se like for example, bread or milk does. But loose leaf tea does go stale.
This just means the color, aroma, and ultimately flavor will vanish from your loose leaf tea. So let’s say you are unlucky enough to brew a pot of spoiled loose leaf tea. You will most likely be met with a dry, dull, grayish bag of crispy leaves. The resulting brew’s fragrance may be musty or simply dry and unexciting to the nose. The flavor will probably be dull, flat, or stale, and the health benefits may not be as potent as when your leaves are in a state of higher freshness.
But luckily, there is still more to this story. Like how you can circumvent this state of dull, dry, boring, and musty tea! If you store your loose leaf tea properly, then your leaves have very little risk of going stale and can be enjoyed for a long, long time.
Now, how can you store your tea properly so you can keep brewing for a while?
First, make sure to keep your tea leaves in an airtight container. The oxygen can speed up the process of your leaves going stale, also try to expose your leaves to the open air as little as possible. That means, grab your leaves and seal them up as soon as possible.
Next, make sure to store your tea leaves in an opaque container, tins work best. Light can shorten your tea’s shelf life, too, so make sure your container is not only opaque, but also store your tea in a dark pantry, shelf, or drawer. Storing your tea in a dark drawer or shelf has an additional benefit, it can help keep your tea at a stable temperature.
Keeping your tea at room temperature is ideal because volatile temperature changes can affect your tea leaves and lead to weird tastes developing or your tea simply going stale. Yuck!
Make sure the place you store your tea is dry. Not only can water, moisture, or humidity of any sort cause mold to develop, but it can additionally affect your tea’s flavor and aroma complexity.
Also be certain to store tea leaves away from spices, ingredients, or other foods or things with strong aromas. Your leaves will absorb these strong scents and lead to a really bizarre taste for your tea. Unless you enjoy salt, pepper, or even soap-flavored tea? We’re gonna assume maybe you don’t, though. So store your tea in an aroma-neutral zone!
One more tip, try not to store tea in the fridge or freezer. The reason is that every time you open the fridge or freezer some warm air will rush in and cause moisture to build on your leaves. If this happens enough your tea will spoil and it could become moldy and oldy! Now, there is a way to freeze tea leaves, but this is a delicate process and should only be done if you don’t plan on opening your tea for a very long time. As a general rule of thumb, try to store your tea at room temperature only.
Tea for years to come!
We will leave you off with this final bit of advice in regards to tea and the longevity of your loose leaf treasures. The different true tea types have a different average shelf life between them.
This means greens and white teas for example can be kept for different periods of time. Black and white teas can both miraculously be enjoyed for up to 24 months! Enjoy your Oolong within 18 months for the freshest results. Now, it’s not easy being green, because green tea should be enjoyed within a year unless you want to risk some musty or dulled leaves! In regards to tea blends that do not contain any true teas, just check your leaves to make sure the color, aroma, and flavors are vibrant and popping!
So, make certain to store your glorious loose leaf tea in the proper ways and you will be able to enjoy your tea for months or even years to come. Happy brewing and may your loose leaf leaves live long, and tasty tea lives!
Featured Teas
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- Loose Leaf Tea, White Tea
Buddha Blend Loose Leaf White Tea
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Select options This product has multiple variants. The options may be chosen on the product page
- Herbal Tea, Loose Leaf Tea
Calming Rest Herbal Blend
- Original price was: $15.00.$12.00Current price is: $12.00.
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Sources
- “Does Loose Leaf Tea Go Bad?” Path of Cha, pathofcha.com/blogs/all-about-tea/does-loose-leaf-tea-go-bad.
- Michael, et al. “Does Loose Leaf Tea Expire? Why, When, and How to Prevent It.” Tea How, 24 Mar. 2021, teahow.com/does-loose-leaf-tea-expire-why-when-and-how-to-prevent-it/.
- Tiwari, Ankit. “How Long Does Loose Leaf Tea Stay Fresh.” Teafloor Blog: All About Tea | Health Benefits of Tea, 25 July 2018, teafloor.com/blog/how-long-does-loose-leaf-tea-stay-fresh/.
