Gourmet Teas - Useful Tips for Storage and Preparation

Gourmet teas are delicious, but they are only as good as the way you store and prepare them. Make sure to get the most out of your purchase of gourmet teas by following these preparation and storage tips.

Storing Gourmet Teas

Shelf life varies depending on the type of tea and its storage conditions. Black tea has a longer shelf life than green tea and flower teas only have a shelf life of approximately one month. The elements that will cause your teas to lose their freshness are odors, moisture, light, and air. To keep your gourmet teas as fresh as when you first bought them, keep them in an opaque, airtight container in a cool, dark place. If you store your tea improperly, it will lose its natural taste and could potentially become moldy or stale. Furthermore, if you leave your tea out in the open, it can absorb the odors and flavors of other foods and ruin the taste. Store your tea separately from aromatic spices and foods.

If you store black tea in a sealed bag inside of an opaque, airtight canister, it can stay fresh for up to two years. Green tea, which has shorter shelf life, can be kept fresh for a year or so under the same conditions. Freezing or refrigerating gourmet teas is not recommended. You must be extra careful about temperature variations when storing your tea because you can ruin it if it goes through drastic temperature variations. Store your tea in an area of your home where the temperature is fairly even. You can extend the shelf life of your gourmet teas by using vacuum sealed packets or oxygen absorbing packets.

The best type of container to use for tea storage is an airtight tea tin or caddy. If you plan on reusing a tin to store a different type of tea, make sure to air it out completely to avoid transferring the scent of one tea to the other. Avoid using glass jars to store tea because they expose the tea to light. Most importantly, when you buy gourmet teas, try to drink them as soon as possible to get the most enjoyment out of them. You shouldn't buy tea in bulk if you don't drink tea often. If you buy tea bags, look for ones that are individually sealed with foil or placed in hermetically sealed plastic envelopes.

Tips for Preparing Tea Properly

There is no right or wrong way to prepare tea as the method you use will depend on your personal preferences. These are just some general guidelines to help you prepare tea. You can use your own taste buds to alter the guidelines as you wish.

First, you must find fresh, cold water. The best type of water to use is bottled or filtered water with natural mineral content. Don't use distilled water because it will make your tea taste flat. Prior to pouring hot water into your teapot, preheat it. When you pour hot water into a cold teapot, the temperature drops quickly and you cannot experience the full flavor of the tea. To warm your teapot, just pour a little hot water from your kettle into the pot. You can then pour this water into your tea cups to warm them as well.

Use about three grams of dry gourmet tea leaves per six ounces of water. You probably don't have a scale to measure the number of grams of tea you are using so just use about one rounded teaspoon of tea leaves per six ounces. If you are preparing oolong, white tea, or another type of light tea, try using two teaspoons per six ounce cup instead.

The temperature of the water you use to brew your tea will depend on the type of tea you are preparing. Black, dark, oolong, and herbal teas are best prepared with water that is near boiling temperature. Green, white, and green oolong teas should not be prepared with boiling water because it will destroy their delicate flavor. The finer the tea, the lower the water temperature should be. You can bring the water to a boil and then let it cool for two to three minutes prior to pouring it into your teapot.

Infusion times depend on the type of tea and leaf size. The smaller the leaf, the less time you should let the tea steep. Just try steeping the tea for a minute or two and then tasting it. When it tastes right, you can serve the tea. Some teas, such as green, oolong, and white teas, can be infused multiple times. All you have to do is increase the steeping time slightly each time you re-infuse a batch.

To prepare iced tea, you should use double the amount of tea leaves that you would use to prepare hot tea. Add about ½ cup of loose tea to a gallon of boiling water and then steep it for ten minutes. Add around four tablespoons of sugar to the tea if you want to sweeten it. If you want to keep the tea overnight, store it in the refrigerator. Otherwise, leave it out at room temperature and add boiling water to it if it gets cloudy.