A Tea Addict's Journal

Drink your tea now, part 2

April 29, 2014 · 4 Comments

It was a busy weekend with a couple tea friends coming separately, one from Japan and one from Taiwan. Tea is an amazing thing that brings you friends, people who you otherwise would never meet and never interact with, if not for your shared interest in this particular variety of caffeine uptake. I’m always thankful for that.

I’m also reminded of something I only wrote about recently – drink your teas, don’t save them, because bad things happen to them, if not to you.

I have many bags of aged oolongs. Some I value more than others. There’s this 80s aged dongding that I have a few bags of that I love, and which I haven’t really drunk for at least a year now, because I feel that it’s too precious to drink. The only problem is, Hong Kong is really not a great place to store oolong, and if any sort of moisture got into the tea, it gets sour.

That’s what happened – I was hoping to serve this tea to my friend, and when I brewed it, something was obviously wrong. Yup… it’s turned sour. Funny enough, it was the most sour when I first reopened the bag that day. I’ve had the tea twice since then, and it’s not as bad. It didn’t help that the bag is quite full of broken leaves because it was near the bottom of the bag at the teashop where I bought it.

Thankfully, the other bags are not opened and should be ok, but a reminder to myself that it’s usually a good idea to just drink your tea, especially if it’s something that is somewhat perishable. Puerh is more immune to that, but oolongs and greens are not easily stored safely. Drink them, or lose them.

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4 responses so far ↓

  • Adrian // April 29, 2014 at 9:32 am | Reply

    Dessicant packets 🙂

  • Nicole Martin // April 29, 2014 at 11:45 am | Reply

    I’ve had this happen too and it’s a painful reminder to carpe tea-um. Tea is made to be enjoyed and we shouldn’t rob ourselves of indulging.

  • Jay // August 26, 2014 at 12:48 am | Reply

    Had this experience with some new school Anxi TGY that was VERY green. It was stored poorly, and when I brewed some up a few weeks ago, it tasted like rubber. Just threw the last cup’s worth in a pan and heated it in hopes of reactivating it…much better. It’s like a weak black tea now. I need to get through my greener oolongs quickly as they are losing flavor with time!

    • Jay // August 26, 2014 at 12:59 am | Reply

      Further down (brewed in a Taiwanese infuser mug), I’m getting notes of aged Baozhong, with a touch of something greener. Quite pleasant–I’m glad I gave this tea some heat.

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