When does Tea really expire?
Ive had tea cans (tao of tea brand) full of tea that were well over 5 years old (exp date was 2020)and they all still brew up wonderfully. I never usually throw tea out on the exp date… My question is to all, how long have you kept yours? and does it really go bad? And if so, what did it taste like? And how long before it truly went expired?
Never.
If I’m the one drinking it anyway. I wouldn’t want to serve anyone else old tea, but anything is fine for me. Though it depends on ingredients. I just threw out a coconut tea because I looked at it and the coconut was brown/green. And the last time I steeped that tea up,it was BAD. But if a tea just isn’t worth steeping up, taste wise, then I would throw it out. That rarely happens though.
This has been a recurrent question, and I see no harm in revisiting the topic! Here are links to some prior discussions:
https://steepster.com/discuss/4970-do-you-pay-attention-to-expiration-dates-on-tea
https://steepster.com/discuss/405-side-effects-of-drinking-expired-tea
https://steepster.com/discuss/17066-expiration-date-about-dark-tea
https://steepster.com/discuss/20380-expiration.
If it still tastes good, I consider it good. When the flavors go off or it looses it’s magic, then I’ll toss.
Some teas are actually intended for aging! I have some white teas that say “the older the better”, I once saw oolong cakes labeled for aging, and puerh is more valuable as it gets older, usually. Green tea typically tastes best fresh but most others are very flexible.
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