Can you drink expired tea?

Many people usually have the habit of drinking tea, especially some Chinese people nowadays, who are gradually beginning to pursue Chinese traditional culture. There are many kinds of tea in China, and some people often hoard tea. Sometimes they buy a lot of good tea, but they can never finish it and it is out of the shelf life. So, can tea still be drunk if it is expired?

If it's expired, it's best not to drink it. Because the tea leaves are expired, they will gradually become moist and produce a lot of mold, the ingredients inside will change, and the nutritional value will be lost. If expired tea leaves are brewed and soaked in water, after the temperature drops, bacteria will corrode the tea leaves and produce microorganisms, which pose a threat to human health. Therefore, it is best not to drink expired tea.

Tea also has a shelf life, but it is related to the variety of tea. Different varieties of tea have different shelf lives. The main factors affecting tea quality are light, temperature and humidity. If the storage method is correct, these factors can be eliminated or reduced, and the tea can be kept for a long time. But ordinary tea is better when it is fresh. For example, green tea, if stored at normal temperature, generally has a shelf life of one year. For example, the tea from Wuyi Rock becomes sweeter and more fragrant after being stored for a long time. There is also Yunnan's Pu'er tea and ethnic minority brick tea, which have a shelf life of ten to twenty years.

It becomes moldy or changes taste, the tea soup becomes darker or browner, and the concentration and freshness of the tea become weaker. In addition, check the shelf life on the tea packaging. If it is loose tea, try to drink it within 18 months.

If the tea leaves are expired, it is best not to drink them, as drinking them can cause harm to the human body. In fact, expired tea leaves do not have to be thrown away. They have many other small uses. You can put them in your shoes to deodorize them, or put them in flower pots to use as fertilizer.