Storing Green Oolong Tea - Why It Is Harder

by Julian
(Horsham)

Why greener oolong tea keeps fresh shorter. Storing them properly is important.

Generally speaking, the less oxidised the tea, the more easily it loses its quality.


Hence green tea can store for a shorter period of time than oolong tea.

One explanation is the greener the oolong tea, the wetter it is.

Moisture content can be "dried" away, so it is not a direct cause.

Since green oolong tea is more unoxidised, it has more unoxdised polyphenols (called catechins). They interact with moisture, oxygen in the air.

At room temperature, this "natural oxidation" can result in rapid quality loss.

Chinese Oolong Tea - How to Store

by Gary Love
(Alabaster, AL. USA)

I have heard conflicting ways to store my oolong tea,. One is to refrigerate it and the other is to just keep it in an air tight container and store in dark dry place. What's your opinion.

Answer:

Gary, this is a very good question.

Basically it depends on how oxidized the tea is. For the lightly oxidized (green) oolong such as Jade Iron Goddess tea, the best is fridge or freezer, which will help it to store up to 2 years.

For the dark oolongs which have been heavily roasted, cool, dry and dark place is the best. These teas generally keep longer and can be aged if you like. Again, 2-3 years are generally fine. You can roast them dry in oven if the tea leaves somewhere become slightly damp.

Hope this helps?

Julian