Green Tea Forum

kenny.kor · White Belt Joined: 24 Feb 2008 Posts: 33

I searched many of my questions already, forgive my ignorance if I've missed some that could have been searched.

Tea fridge. Is there a special kind that you would need to get, such-as one that keeps a constant 1 degree centigrade? Or would regular refridgeration work?

How long does tea stay fresh for and what are some methods to keeping the teas fresher, longer?

Electric Water Pots. I recently bought one of these and I can set the temperature to 140, 175, 195, and 208 degrees F. This is great concerning the temperature of water and tea, however, is there any reason to using more traditional methods? I'm a student and I work to afford college, this is very practicle and convienent solution since I'm always trying to get things done quick, however I'd still like to know just for the sake of better tea =D.

Teapots, is there any reason to have this other than for aesthetic and proportional purposes?

Much Obliged,
Kenny.

syntheticpanda · 2nd Degree Black Belt Joined: 07 Nov 2006 Posts: 198

As far as the tea fridge goes, you will have to ask Chip. Smile

He has one, and probably knows more about them than I do.

Different teas stay fresh for different periods of time. Japanese greens are probably on the shorter end, going stale more quickly than others. If stored properly, they usually last about 6 months after being opened.

Some good storage practices include keeping the tea in a sealed, air-tight, opaque container. This protects the leaves (to a certain extent) from a number of factors, including light, oxygen, odors, and moisture. If you use a tea fridge, I would not suggest storing an open bag there, as you will likely cause condensation to form on the leaves. This is also why you should let tea from a fridge warm up to room temperature before opening it.

Do you have a zojirushi? Those seem to be very popular, and I don't see anything wrong with it. The elite of the tea world prefer more traditional methods, but there is little noticeable effect for people like you and me. Smile

Japanese teapots are designed to work with Japanese teas-- they allow the leaf to expand fully, and are generally the right size. Other than that, it's pretty much just aesthetics.

Hope this helps!

kenny.kor · White Belt Joined: 24 Feb 2008 Posts: 33

Thanks a bunch for the info. It's cleared my mind up about the matter. Yeah I have a Zojirushi, all of my friends in Japan had them and it just seemed like a good idea, as I constantly forget about boiling water. I melted a teapot once, not a good thing to do. 日本語と韓国語。태한민국.　Just curious if this site supported unicode for future reference.