Find out if tea can go bad, the difference between stale and unsafe tea and why some teas last longer than others. Learn what actually happens to tea over time and when it’s still worth steeping.
Does Tea Go Bad or Just Lose Flavour?
Tea can be stored for a while, but it can gradually loses its flavour and aroma. Most teas don’t truly “expire” in a safety sense. Instead, they simply become stale but it also depends on many factors, including the type of tea.
For instance, green and white teas tend to lose their freshness quicker than black, oolong, and puerh teas. So that forgotten pouch in the back of your cupboard may still be fine well past the date on the box. It may, however, just not taste quite as lively as it once did.
If you want great tasting tea, how you store it matters more than the best before or expiration date. Let’s dive into this!
Understanding Tea Expiration
Tea rarely becomes unsafe to drink, but overtime it does lose flavour, aroma and overall strength. How long tea stays at its best depends on the type of tea and how much it’s exposed to air, light, heat and moisture.
What It Really Means When Tea “Expires”
When tea is considered “expired,” it’s almost always a matter of quality, not safety. This is because dried tea leaves contain very little fat or protein so they don’t spoil the way fresh foods do. Bacterial growth is uncommon unless the leaves have been exposed to moisture or develop mold.
Instead, age shows up in more subtle ways: a fading aroma, a flatter taste and a thinner mouthfeel. The natural oils responsible for flavour slowly oxidize or evaporate, especially when tea is stored in warm, humid or bright environments.
Tea should be discarded if it smells off, looks moldy or tastes musty. Otherwise, older tea is usually safe to consume. It may simply steep a lighter cup or find a second life in cooking with tea, crafting or composting.
Visible Signs of Expired Tea
Smell: Stale tea smells flat or even musty. If the aroma is weak or off, the flavour will be, too.
Appearance: If the tea leaves have faded in colour, accumulated dust or an oily residue that can be a sign of age or poor storage. Mold appears as white, grey or green fuzz and means you must throw it away.
Taste: If you taste the steeped tea and it is sour, oddly bitter or has a strange film on the surface, it is not worth finishing. Cloudy or slimy liquid after steeping could indicate contamination or moisture exposure.
If tea leaves were wet at any time, you should just assume it is unsafe and discard it. Dry tea that only shows lost aroma or strength is safe to confuse, though it may be less enjoyable than before.
What to Do With Stale Tea
If your tea has simply lost its flavour and aroma but shows no signs of mold or moisture damage, you don’t necessarily have to throw it away.
While it may not steep the most vibrant cup, stale tea can still be put to good use. Here are a few ideas to help you think outside the cup:
- Use it in baking or cooking (tea infused muffins or tea infused soup)
- Simmer it into syrups
- Add it to smoothies
- Compost the tea leaves to enrich your garden soil
How to Store Tea for Maximum Freshness
To conclude, storing tea properly matters more than the best before or expiration date on the package. Store tea where light, heat, moisture and strong odours cannot reach it. Use opaque, airtight containers, keep tea cool and dry to preserve flavour.
To learn more about the best tea storage techniques and tips, check out this blog post here.