A tea lover wrote to us: “While cleaning out the warehouse the other day, I found a pack of oolong tea I bought over 10 years ago. The packaging is completely intact. Can I still drink tea that has been stored for 10 years? A friend told me that tea gets better the longer you keep it. Is this true?”
Liao Chang-Xing Tea Reply: Can you drink tea stored for 10 years?
Whether tea is still safe to drink depends on the tea type, dryness level, and storage environment. Generally speaking, black teas, partially fermented oolongs, and post-fermented teas (such as Pu-erh) are more durable and less likely to spoil. As time passes, the compounds in the tea change, and harsher notes can mellow out into smoother, more rounded flavors. However, that aging process also causes the original fresh and vibrant aromas to fade.
Does tea get better the longer you store it?
Not necessarily—it depends on how you define it. As mentioned above, the aging process causes fresh and vibrant aromas to fade. The idea that tea gets better with age applies best to post-fermented Pu-erh tea, dark tea, and white tea, which need time for their internal components to transform into a mellow fragrance. For green teas and light-aroma high mountain teas, which rely heavily on freshness and delicate fragrance, this kind of transformation isn’t necessarily a good thing.
For example, Taiwanese high mountain oolong tea is prized for its aroma and freshness. If the assumption that tea quality improves with age were true, I could just store my tea for a few years and enter it into tea competitions—that would guarantee a win, right? But in reality, no tea farmer does this. Why? Because high mountain tea loses its fresh, brisk taste after just one year, and entering it into a competition would be pointless. Therefore, the assumption that tea gets better the longer you keep it does not hold true for Taiwanese high mountain oolongs.
Can you drink tea stored for 10 years?
To get back to your question, as long as it’s vacuum-sealed and the moisture content is low enough, it should still be okay to drink, though you’ll need to check the actual condition to be sure. We recommend having an experienced friend take a look with you. As for whether tea gets better with age, it really depends on the type of oolong. Lightly fermented teas are unlikely to improve, but heavily fermented oolongs and black teas definitely have a chance.