Can green tea still be drunk after being stored for three years?

Can green tea still be drunk after being stored for three years?

Many people like to taste tea in their daily lives. Tea culture has a long history in China. Drinking tea is conducive to self-cultivation and has many benefits to the body. Some people usually buy many kinds of tea. Tea also has a shelf life. After a long time, the tea may expire. Many people don’t know whether green tea can still be drunk after three years. Can green tea still be drunk after three years? Let’s take a look at it next.

1. Can green tea still be drunk after being stored for three years? How long can tea leaves be stored before they can be drunk?

Usually the shelf life of sealed tea varies from 12 to 24 months, which will be marked on the tea bag. The shelf life of loose tea is even shorter. When buying, try to buy new tea of ​​the year.

At the same time, it depends on the degree of tea fermentation. Pu'er tea is fully fermented tea, so of course it tastes better the longer it is stored. Tieguanyin is semi-fermented tea, so its shelf life cannot be stored like Pu'er tea. If you want to store it for a long time before drinking it, it is recommended that you put the sealed tea in the refrigerator. This way it can be stored for a longer time without affecting the taste.

The shelf life of tea is related to the variety of tea, and different teas have different shelf lives. Pu'er tea and black tea are fully fermented products with a shelf life of 10 to 20 years. Therefore, the country has not set a shelf life for them. Similar teas include Wuyi Rock Tea and Guangxi Liubao Tea. As long as these teas are properly stored, they will not deteriorate, but will improve the quality of the tea.

Generally, fresh tea is better. For example, the shelf life of green tea is generally about one year at room temperature. However, the factors that affect the quality of tea are mainly temperature, light, and humidity. If the storage method is appropriate and these factors are reduced or eliminated, the tea can be kept for a long time. There are mainly the following aspects to determine whether the tea is expired: whether it is moldy or has a stale taste; whether the green tea turns red, and the soup color turns brown and dark; the concentration, astringency and freshness of the taste decrease. In addition, check the shelf life on the packaging. In addition, if it is loose tea, it is best not to drink it for more than 18 months.

2. Tea can no longer be drunk if it has been left for too long

Most people know that "overnight tea cannot be drunk", but do you know that drinking tea is a big subject. In addition to overnight tea, even tea brewed during the day cannot be drunk if it is left for a long time.

Recently, someone conducted an experiment on whether tea can be drunk after being left for a long time. The results showed that if tea is left for too long, it will be contaminated with bacteria and produce nitrite. Nitrite can easily cause poisoning and may also induce cancer, posing a serious threat to human health. For the sake of your own health and happiness, it is recommended that you drink tea while it is brewing, and it is not advisable to leave tea for too long.

How long should tea be left before it can be drunk? Many people don't know how to distinguish the concept of "long". What is considered long? Half an hour, an hour, or two hours? For this reason, we consulted relevant experts. The experts said that it is now a hot summer, and the external environment has a great impact on food and water. Tea left at room temperature for more than 4 hours is not suitable for drinking. At the same time, during the storage period of tea, pay attention to cover it to prevent bacteria from entering.

In addition to judging whether tea is drinkable based on the storage time, we can also judge based on the color of the tea. Generally speaking, the color of tea will become darker as time goes by. For example, green tea should be light green under normal circumstances, but if it is stored for too long, it may turn into yellow-brown. If the color of the tea changes, it is not suitable for drinking.

3. How long does it take for new tea to be good to drink?

The so-called new tea refers to the tea made from the first few batches of fresh leaves picked from the tea trees in the spring of that year. In order to make it fresh, some tea farmers start picking tea before the Qingming Festival. Such tea is called Mingqian tea; tea picked before the Rain Water solar term is called Yuqian tea. Some consumers enjoy tasting new tea and rush to buy Mingqian tea and Yuqian tea. In fact, the view that "the fresher the tea, the better" is a misunderstanding. Not all tea is fresher, the better. Pu'er tea and black tea are better as they age. The tea that pursues freshness is green tea, but even green tea does not need to be fresh enough to be picked and drunk immediately.

The freshest tea does not necessarily have the best nutritional content, because tea that has been picked for less than a month has not been left for a period of time and contains substances that have adverse effects on the body, such as polyphenols, alcohols, and aldehydes, which have not been completely oxidized. If you drink new tea for a long time, you may experience adverse reactions such as diarrhea and bloating. Tea that is too fresh is even worse for patients. For example, some elderly patients with gastric acid deficiency or chronic gastric ulcers are not suitable for drinking new tea. New tea will irritate their gastric mucosa, cause gastrointestinal discomfort, and even aggravate their condition.