Tea Container for Tea Storage
Tea jar, or tea caddy, is a container for tea storage, is also an most neglected tea ware and an essential tea ware among all the tea sets.
Tea container on the market are roughly divided into few types by its materials: Yixing Clay(zisha), porcelain and ceramic, glass, bamboo or wood container, stainless steel or iron container. Ceramics are the collective name for pottery and porcelain. These include materials of the most famous five kilns(Ru Ware, Jun Ware, Guan Ware, Ding Ware and Ge Ware) and Longquan celadon. For the convenience of statistics, they are classified as ceramic. However, the effect of storing tea leaves will vary depending on the material of the container.
A good tea container generally has the following characteristics, such as sealing, moisture proof, anti-odor, anti-oxidation, light protection and other practical conditions can be regarded as a good tea container. Now we can easily analyze the advantages and disadvantages of the following tea containers of various materials so that everyone can avoid wasting their good tea in the process of daily tea storage.
Yixing Clay jar: Because the material of Yixing Clay jar has a double venting structure, it has better light and moisture resistance, so that the odor of new tea can be eliminated during the time of storage, and that also keeps the tea natural and clean. Yixing Clay jar is always loved by advanced tea enthusiasts.
Glass jar: Glass jar is not sealed tight enough unless they are equipped with a rubber ring. It is generally used to store herbal tea. The main group of glass jar user is young female tea enthusiasts. When storing tea in a glass jar, It is important to realize that the jar must be tight sealed. Otherwise, herbal tea is the most likely to attract bugs.
Bamboo or wooden container: generally the prices of these containers are relatively cheaper. the sealing is not quite well performed and not moisture proofed. It is a very modest container that can be used for cheaper tea storage. These containers are getting excluded on the market day by day now.
Metal canisters: metal cans are including stainless steel can and iron can, have better sealing performance. It is moisture-proof, light-proof, also it is cheaper than ceramic jar. Metal cans are great for storing green teas. The prone of metal can is it gets rusted easily. So green tea is usually sealed in a foil bag before placed in this type of can. Metal cans are durable and convenient for shipping, it is widely used by tea vendors for packaging.
Tin: it is recognized as one of top choice container that seals tight, and met with all the conditions of good quality tea containers. the price is quite high, but acceptable. It is a good choice for storing varieties of precious teas.
Ceramic and Porcelain caddy: The tightness of the early made ceramic jars can only be said to be modest. But now the cover is greatly improved the sealing tightness, and has the functions of moisture proof and light protection. The disadvantage is that the ceramic jars are generally smooth and there is a danger of being broken. the ceramic jar has an ornamental use, especially hand-painted type of ceramic jar from Jing De Zhen. A lots of Jing De Zhen porcelains are exquisite works and really expensive.
When choosing a appropriate tea container, we have to be clear what the container needed to be used for. We may need container for convenience only, or for purpose of tea storage, or container for pu erh tea conversion. Therefore, when we choose a tea container , we need to consider the following aspects:
If any type of tea has to be tightly sealed?
For teas that need to be converted later, such as Pu erh tea and Fuding white tea, ceramic tea jar or Yixing Clay tea jar are recommended due to their better permeability. Some freshly baked new teas can also be stored in such tea jars for short periods of time.
Most other teas (such as green tea, black tea, oolong tea, etc.) do not need post conversion, so they should be tight sealed and stored, to avoid the tea aging and the loss of aroma. Sealed tea containers made of non-permeability materials such as porcelain or metal are recommended for these types of teas. These containers are high density and tight, have good effects on resistance of moisture, oxidation, light and odor. Green tea is best stored in a porcelain jar and stored at a low temperature.
Newly ceramic tea containers normally have special muddy odor. It is recommended to steam new ceramic tea containers with in water for 5 to 10 minutes before initial use. Therefore, clean it and let it dry before use. You can also put a little cheaper tea in the new container to absorb and clean the odor in the beginning; except for a few teas that need to be refrigerated, all the tea containers should be placed in a dry, ventilated and room temperature environment. A good storage environment allows the tea to perform the magic of time after time passes
The reason why tea is fascinating is probably because it has unpredictable beauty, always leading to exploration and patience. The tea that has been stored over time often contains a rich trace of life and breath. the mystery of time is hidden here for us to interpret.
As we talked about different varieties of tea containers above, you should now somehow understand how to get an appropriate tea container to store your tea. Especially good quality teas need to be paid extra care for storing. After you have learned what container for tea storing, you also need to understand what is the best way to store loose leaf tea.
