Is Your Tea Tasteless?
Stop Drinking Stale Tea!
If your tea is tasteless you might actually be drinking tea that’s gone past its efficacy. In short, you’re drinking expired tea.
While many teas, don’t have an actual expiration date, they do have a shelflife. if you are purchasing teas from your local grocery store and aren’t checking the expiration dates, you could be drinking tea that’s been on the shelf for YEARS.
The thing is just like other spices in your pantry it doesn’t stay good forever. The first question you need to ask yourself how are you storing your teas.
How are you storing your tea?
The beauty of loosely tease is that you can easily transfer them to an airtight container. I love jars, especially for this very purpose a ball jar with a good old-fashioned lid and ring have a fantastic seal and will help keep your tea longer than if you do not have an airtight container. Consider transferring your loosely tees to a jar with an airtight seal to prolong the life of your tea.
Stainless steel tins and ceramic containers are also a great idea, I just love that ball jars are very easily accessible and they are not expensive.
How to know when your tea has passed its prime
If your tea starts to have a flavorless taste, it could be that it has just lost its oomph. Also if it just tastes different, that could be in an indication that it’s past its prime.
I’ve had many customers tell me how surprising my peppermint tea is. That it tastes, just so pepperminty! It makes me wonder if my customers have been drinking mediocre tea. Regardless, we’re all worth drinking the best tea possible.
Iif your tea starts to smell a bit musty, that’s a bad sign. It could be that it’s actually started to grow some mold. And if that’s the case, ditch it immediately.
In general, how long do tees actually stay fresh?
Depending upon who you ask, you make a different answers. Herbal teas can last for one to two years in that time your herbs and tea plant leaves will faire better in a cool dark place.
The one exception I have heard is, if you are drinking teas actually come from the root of the plant, such as ginger tea, then that the root can last much longer than the flower of an herb
Likewise, black teas can last up to two years, and green tea has the longest shelf life with anywhere from 4 plus years
So what do you do with tea that is expired, tasteless or lost its oomph?
Cut open the tea bag (if they’re in a bag) and put it in your compost pile or in your garden soil. The key point is that you don’t have to drink it. For goodness sake, don’t settle for bad tea!
Buy high-quality tea, and enjoy it. Don’t save anything for a special occasion, especially your tea.