Anyone who is enchanted by the world of tea leaves will soon notice that more and more open bags of loose tea are gradually appearing in their homes. For a while the teas multiply unobtrusively and nothing happens, but sooner or later there comes a time when the tea gourmet longs for a taste of one of these almost forgotten pieces. So he prepares a cup and expects the "right" taste, only... somewhere a mistake has been made! So he prepares a second cup with more care... and again it's not the same. He tries a third time... and then he has no choice but to acknowledge the impermanence of the world. Which can be quite painful, especially in the case of teas that can no longer be bought or were very expensive.

How to avoid this suffering?

Mainly don't store tea in paper bags - there the loss of freshness comes within days, much better are ziplock bags and metal jars. However, quality teas deserve the best storage and here's a quick summary of my 20 years of know-how:

Storage before opening the bag:
No doubt here - refrigerator. If you don't have room in the fridge, a cold room will also serve, the main thing is to avoid big temperature fluctuations. This applies to teas packed in their original packaging with a protective atmosphere.

After opening:
Of all the possible storage methods, the classic one has worked best for me - dark glass jars.

What about matcha?

Matcha is not meant to be stored for long periods of time once opened, so don't count on long archiving. However, you can certainly extend its freshness.

Putting matcha into a glass jar would cause unnecessary oxidation, and anyone who has tried it will remember that this green miracle can be very tricky - personally, the best thing I've done with matcha is to squeeze out all the air, then fold the bag over and secure with a paper clip, slide it into a larger ziplock bag, close it tightly and store it in the fridge.