Those who love tea often keep a good stock at home, and many people store their teas in the refrigerator, or even buy a small fridge specifically for this purpose.
In fact, this is a misconception. Whether tea should be stored in the fridge depends on the type of tea.
Teas Suitable for Refrigeration:
The types that benefit from refrigeration include green teas, lightly fragrant oolongs, and Humidity-dried teas. Of the six major categories, green teas are the most prone to spoilage and require special attention when storing. You can place the tea in a sealed tin and then put it in a sealed Bag before placing it in the fridge.
Additionally, lightly fragrant Tieguanyin oolong and humidity-dried oolongs can also be stored in the fridge.
Green teas, lightly fragrant oolongs, and humidity-dried teas are suitable for refrigeration.
Teas Not Suitable for Refrigeration:
Black teas, Pu'er teas, traditionally processed Tieguanyin, aged Tieguanyin, and white teas should not be refrigerated due to the importance of aging and transformation. Storing these teas in the fridge could lead to dampness issues and reduce the activity of biological enzymes within the leaves, affecting their transformation process.
Jasmine-scented teas may lose their fragrance if stored in the fridge. However, there is an exception: Bi Tan Piao Xue. Since jasmine flowers are added during the later stages of production, storing it in the fridge can help preserve the floral aroma, although long-term storage will still result in some loss of fragrance.
Teas Whose Refrigeration Depends on the Situation:
Research shows that temperature has a significant impact on the storage quality of black broken teas. When stored at a lower temperature (0-5°C) for one year, there is minimal change in quality components and only a 2.11% increase in moisture content. In contrast, black broken teas stored at room temperature experience a much greater reduction in theaflavin content (18 times higher) and a larger increase in theabrownin (2.76 times higher).
This results in black teas stored at low temperatures maintaining freshness and a rich flavor, while those stored at room temperature tend to turn brown and lose their aroma. Therefore, as fully oxidized teas, black teas can generally be stored at room temperature without significant quality degradation. However, high-quality, delicate black teas (such as Jin Jun Mei), which have a high theaflavin content, can be stored in a refrigerator under sealed conditions for a period of time. This helps slow down the browning process.
Refrigeration Precautions:
In household refrigerators, where other foods are also stored, it's important to seal the tea well since tea readily absorbs odors. If you're dealing with loose leaf tea, place it in a clean, odorless, sealed bag and a sealed tin before refrigerating. For non-loose leaf teas, check the seal of the Packaging and add another clean, sealed bag to prevent the tea from absorbing other odors. (Source: China Tea Network, Image Source: ChaYou Network)