This post starts with an admission of failure.

In an effort to try and drink up as many teas as possible, I’ve been limiting the number of teas that I’ve opened and just focusing on them. And since I pretty much drink those few teas until they’re finished [1], I’ve just been using clips such as these[2] to close the bags:

Unfortunately, I learned that these clips aren’t as good as they might seen. I’ve been holding on to this box of tea which I bought after trying it in Hakata and when I finally decided to open it, I found out that I was too late!

Someone already opened the box and used the clips to ‘seal’ it and that someone wasn’t me [3].

The tea I had in Japan had a wonderful muscat fragrance and taste which reminded me of the muscat tea from Mslena (that I haven’t had in years). But this tea was very weak in terms of flavour and and fragrance, which meant that it needed to be steeped for several minutes before I could taste the grape. And because of the longer steeping time required, the tea ended up being too bitter for my taste. It’s a huge pity because I remember really liking this tea when I first tried it.

And that’s how I learned that the clips don’t always work. According to my research on the internet, I’ve only been storing my teas partly right. When storing teas, you need to:

– Avoid sunlight (done)
– Avoid strong smells because tea leaves absorb smells (done)
– Avoid humidity (done to the best of my ability because I do live in Singapore after all).
– Aim for airtight packaging (not done, CLEARLY)

So apparently, anything can do as long as it’s dark and airtight (which rules out clear glass[4]). Things like porcelain, metal, unscented wood, triple layer bags, they all work as long as they fulfill the above rules. It makes me want to buy a few caddies just so I have proper storage space.

Or maybe I just need to increase the amount of tea I drink every day.

Notes
[1] Although it feels like it takes both forever and too soon at the same time.

[2] I’ve seen people call them “tea clips” but in my family we use it for both tea and potato chips.

[3] I’m sure because I have no memory of opening it AND whoever it is cut the packet wide open while I generally make the smallest opening possible.

[4] And lead. Don’t laugh because it was used in old caddies, as this post on Collector’s Weekly taught me.