How to store tea properly

Do you love tea?

You are in good company here. We love loose leaf tea!

You know your favourite and you know where to get it, but do you know how to best store it to enjoy it for longer?

First things first, purchase fresh tea, which is the current year’s harvest to ensure you have the freshness and the full shelf life available to you. This obviously is not applicable to Pu’er or other fermented teas.

Buy the right quantity for you. Whether you are an avid tea drinker or an occasional consumer, buy the right amount or whereabouts. This is because you don’t want to run out of space and then have to throw away old tea which ended up at the back or forgotten.

Antique tea caddies

Choose a suitable tea caddy, meaning a pleasant, airtight, opaque, new container. Tea leaves absorb aromas, flavours, and humidity, so always store separately and in an airtight tea caddy. A previously used container with a lingering smell, or not, could ruin your batch. Disappointingly, glass jar displaying the beauty of the leaves are a no-no. An aluminium canister is currently considered one of the very best options.

Keep your tea caddy in a cool and dry area. This should be far from the cooker, toaster, oven, or radiators to prevent the heat to ruin the flavour. In the same way, avoid placing the tea caddy in the fridge or in a very cold pantry, as it would absorb moisture and spoil.

If your tea is in an air-tight, foil-lined, and resealable pouch, you can choose to keep it in there. Only ensure you resealed it properly after each use, pressing the air out firmly sliding your palm toward the opening and sealing it anew.

It is always advisable to label the container or the pouch with the name of the tea, its origin, flush or harvest season, and date of purchase. If you have a bit of a collection and are a tea lover, this will help you greatly in knowing what you have tasted and plan future purchases.

Consider the natural longevity of your teas. The less oxidised the shorter the shelf life. Green tea should be consumed within a maximum of eight-month, while black tea can keep well for up to two years. Whole leaves will last longer since the surface in contact with air is less than broken ones.

Teas with added ingredients or flavoured tend to degrade more quickly.

Lastly, never ever leave a tea measuring spoon or a scoop inside your tea, no matter the material it is made of. Nothing should be stored with tea. Avoid using an elastic band or a peg to secure a bag in your tea caddy for the same reason.

In short, remember to keep away from air, light, moisture, heat, and other smells to preserve tea original aroma, taste, colour, antioxidants, and vitamins.

Now you can put your kettle on and enjoy a delicious cuppa.

If you are cold, tea will warm you;

if you are too heated, it will cool you;

If you are depressed, it will cheer you;

If you are excited, it will calm you.

William Ewart Gladstone

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Tea etiquette: A lesson in table napkins

This seemingly modest piece of cloth can speak volumes about you as soon as you sit at the table.

We will explore together how a British afternoon tea table napkin should be and how you should use it appropriately. Sit comfortably, with good posture and a straight back, hands on the lap, ready to learn.

The English word napkin originates from the Latin mappa, who turned into nappe, or tablecloth in old French, with the added suffix kin, a diminutive used in late Middle English.

The napkin uses and sizes have changed enormously through time, from a huge roll to clean the mouth, teeth and face in ancient times to a wrapping cloth for delicacies to be taken away. Its history is long and frankly astonishing, but here I set out only to give you some practical guidance for your quintessentially British afternoon tea.

Afternoon tea napkins are perfect cloth squares, sized between 12 to 15 inches (30.5cm to 38 cm). 

The clean and crisp square is usually made of cotton, linen or mixed fibre.

Traditionally, they are light in colour. However, depending on the occasion or the decor stronger colours may be used, particularly for a themed afternoon tea or a special celebration where hues could be significant.

A table napkin should be placed on your lap, folded in half with the hem inside, and with the crease folded towards you if you are a gentleman.

However, if you are lady, you want to place your folded napkin with the crease away from you. 

The benefit of the different placement will become apparent in a second. 

Dab your mouth with the napkin, never wipe, bringing the napkin to your mouth. Do not bend down to meet the table napkin, sit comfortably and upright.

The gentleman can gently dab using the inconspicuous side by the crease.

The lady can simply reach for the nearest corner, open it slightly, dabbing with the inside of the napkin. She then closes the napkin again and places it back on her lap. The napkin still looks pristine as the stains are inside.

If you need to take a break, excuse yourself from the table, and leave your napkin on your chair. This signals that you are coming back. Depending on the setting, gently push the chair under the table. 

When you sit down again, place your napkin on your lap as before.

The end of the afternoon tea will be prompted by the host/ess picking their napkin and placing it on the table to their left.

As soon as you are ready, pinch the napkin in the middle and place it on the table to your left too, with the seams toward you. 

The napkin is crumpled but in a somewhat neat way. Note that it touches the table only at the end of the afternoon tea.

I very much work in the traditional British way and proudly host afternoon teas with tea leaf reading. I enjoy it tremendously.

Get in touch to book your full afternoon tea experience!

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Tea Travels

The etiquette of accepting and enjoying a cup of tea around the world reflects the rich culture and social rituals of the place.

Here we will look at drinking tea in daily life, perhaps in a cafe, as a guest, or in a market, in a few countries.

From mint tea to an East Frisian tea cloud, from yerba mate to chai this is what you should do to behave like a local when consuming your drink.

This shared pleasure unites people and brings joy. Read on to be prepared for your trip around the globe!

Turkey

Native, strong black tea and flavoured apple tea are readily offered to guests everywhere.

So, expect it in shops and bazaar, where it will be made in a çaydanlik teapot (a Turkish version of the samovar) and served in small, curved and transparent glasses. The saucers are colourful and decorated.

You are meant to drink it without milk or cream. Locals enjoy dipping sugar cubes in the tea and sucking on them before they dissolve in the tea.

Always accept it, as a sign of courtesy, even if you only pretend to drink it.

Egypt

Tea will be offered to you if you are out shopping. As a hospitality gesture, you are expected to accept it, even if you don’t drink it.

If you are a guest of someone and out dining, be mindful of your companion's teacup or glass. If it’s less than half full, you are meant to refill it.

They are expected to do the same with you when it’s your turn. If they don’t, pour a little more into their cup or glass until they realise your need and perform their duty.

The Himalayas & Central Asia

Yak butter tea (or po cha, cha süma, sūyóu chá, gur gur cha, cha suskan) is made of black or

pu'erh tea, traditionally in brick or cake form; yak butter; salt.

These tea bricks or cakes were used as currency till WWII in many parts of Asia, like Siberia,

Tibet, Mongolia, Nepal, Bhutan, Turkmenistan, etc.

A personal po cha cup is a symbol of status and wealth. It can be made of gold, silver, inlaid with precious stones, etc. Even the most basic teacup will be beautifully decorated.

When offered one of these beautiful cups, you are meant to receive it with both hands to show respect, gratitude, and appreciation.

Do not finish the tea if you don’t want more, but leave some at the bottom. As your host is bound to look after you, they will continually refill it. 

China

As the largest producer and consumer of tea, in China offering tea is a rule and a pleasure.

If you are a guest, do not pour tea for yourself, but wait to be served. Also, wait for your host to start drinking before you take a sip.

In a restaurant, have the teapot lid open for a refill. Gently tap two fingers (index and middle) on the table to express your gratitude when served the tea.

India

Politely turn down the offer of a cup of tea. After allowing some insistence from the host, graciously accept the offer and drink the tea.

If you are outside drinking a chai tea sold by a street vendor, or chai wallah, crush the small clay cup, called kulhud, on the ground at the end. 

The hand-less cup will soon disintegrate without polluting.

Russia Russian tea is normally black and served with snacks (a selection of cheese, cured meats called sushkie, pretzels), varenye (a jelly-like fruit concoction), biscuits, or a piece of cake. The samovar would be your starting point: get some of your concentrated tea (zavarka) in the cup from the top teapot, then add boiling water. As a guest, you will be offered milk and sugar, although Russians like their tea plain. You are meant to merrily eat and drink.  Being served only a cup of tea, without food, would be considered very rude. Similarly, it would be seen as impolite not to accept the food.

Japan

Taste your tea, then decide if you really want to add anything, like sugar or milk. Slurping is acceptable.

Green tea, in different forms, is the most common beverage and it is drunk plain by Japanese people.

Here, Sencha is the most popular tea. When drinking, it’s polite to hold your tea bowl with both hands as a sign of respect.

Germany Prepared with strong Assam tea, an East Frisian tea cloud must be sipped without stirring. This is not to disturb the carefully arranged top layer, or cloud, made of cream. This tea ceremony implies that the sugar at the bottom represents the land; the tea brew the sea; and the top layer of cream the sky.

Argentina 

When passed a gourd of yerba mate (technically not a tea as it does not contain the camellia sinensis plant), accept it without saying ‘thank you’. The ‘thank you’ would signify 'pass' and you will be expected to pass it to your neighbour and not partake of it.

The gourd is refilled with hot water after each round by the cebador. Traditionally, it moves anticlockwise.

Do not stir the yerba mate with the special straining straw called bombilla. This metal straw has an inbuilt filter to separate the liquid from the small parts of the leaves.

Morocco

If enjoying your mint, or Maghrebi tea, in a shop or bazaar, make sure you empty your glass before you start haggling or discussing any sort of business.

Be prepared to be served three times and expect a slightly different flavour from the same brew. As for tradition "The first glass is as gentle as life, the second is as strong as love, the third is as bitter as death”.

Refusing a serving is unthinkable!

With thanks to Yosomono, Jaida Stewart, Davide Ragusa, Aditya Chinchure for some of the photographs

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