It has been believed since ancient times that tea should be stored in a cool, dark place, and attention was also paid to humidity. The principles of preserving quality have been passed down, and storage containers suited to the times have been created.
The tea jar that appears in the lyrics of the children's song "Zui Zui Zukkorobashi" is generally interpreted as referring to a tea jar journey in the Edo period, but it appears that it was used as a storage container even before that. Because it is made of pottery, it has excellent moisture resistance and heat retention, and during the hot and humid summer, it seems that it was often left in an icehouse in the mountains over the summer and then opened in the fall.
It is a storage container that was created in Uji towards the end of the Edo period. It is a box made of cedar wood and lined with tin to increase airtightness. It has been an excellent storage container for tea since its inception, and some tea merchants still use it today. Compared to tea jars, it is more resistant to impacts and can be repaired, so tea bins were made in large numbers during the Meiji period and were even used to transport tea overseas.
It is a bag in which tea is packed and stored, like a rice sack. The bag is made of three layers, with the inside and outside that come into contact with the tea being made of paper, and the middle layer between the paper layers is a plastic bag. This plastic bag protects the tea from moisture and seals in the aroma. It is also called daikaibukuro, tate, or tatebukuro.
Cases come in a variety of sizes, and there are inner bags to fit the case size. Most of the inner bags currently on the market can be sealed by vapor-depositing aluminum, and the quality is maintained by degassing and filling with nitrogen. Nitrogen is filled in because there is a possibility that the air pressure will crush the tea leaves if it is only degassed (close to a vacuum).
"Tea cabinets," "ocean bags," and "cardboard cases with aluminum bags" are still in circulation in the tea industry today, but consumers rarely purchase them in their current form. Depending on the type of tea, tea is sold in small packages of various weights. For canned or bagged tea, efforts are made to maintain quality by using airtight bags or cans.
How to store it at home