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Sustainability, describes a lifestyle in which resources are used to their fullest and not depleted or permanently destroyed. Sustainability is a wonderful philosophy as it can be practiced in almost every daily activity and anyone, regardless of age or living situation, can begin to practice it at any point. Whether you drink tea for health, for flavor, to wake up or to fall asleep, you can begin a sustainable practice simply by choosing and using your tea wisely!

Love the earth with loose tea:

Tea is already considered by many to be a sustainable crop since tea leaves used are only cut off of the top of tea plants. Unlike other crops, tea does not have to be harvested from the earth and consistently replanted. Loose tea further supports sustainability long after tea leaves have been cut.

It may seem like an obvious concept, but loose-leaf tea drastically reduces the amount of packaging, resources and environmental impact seen in packaged tea bags at a typical grocery store. Tea bags, even those marked 'biodegradable', can take a very long time to break down once thrown away. In addition, staples are often used to seal the individual bags and larger cardboard boxes package the ten or so bags purchased. Wasted packaging material combined with shipping thousands of cardboard boxes of bag-sealed tea, it turns out tea buyers may be biting off much more than they can chew...or drink.

Loose tea not only requires less packaging material and shipping energy, but often loose teas are more often organically grown, meaning no pesticides or chemicals are used on the tea plants contributing to cleaner air and a healthier environment, not to mention healthier consumers!

Composting with tea leaves:

Creating sustainable habits with tea can extend to after the buying and drinking of loose tea. High in nitrogen, potassium, phosphorus and other minerals, steeped tea leaves are a valuable addition to your compost or alone as mulch. Tea leaves are superb at holding moisture and can be used on soil or exposed areas of your garden to prevent the area from drying out!

Think it's a good idea to keep your fine loose leaf tea sitting on top of your stove or near a window exposed to sunlight? Not if you want to make it last long enough to enjoy through next winter. If tea is properly stored, it can potentially last up to a year for green, oolong and black teas. White tea lasts about six months before it isn't as good in quality as when fresher. Stale tea will taste flat, as if you are sipping liquid cardboard. Here are the do's and don'ts of properly storing loose leaf tea:

 DO:

• Keep fresh tea away from air, heat, light, and moisture. Each of these will cause the tea to deteriorate or to go stale.

• Place the loose leaf tea in a non-plastic container. Preferably use a container that is made from tin or aluminum. Plastic can transfer an odor and spoil the taste of the tea.  It should be airtight; if not, place the tea in a sealable bag first, although be careful of the odor of the bag if it's plastic. After usage, tightly close or seal the container every single time. This ensures that the tea maintains its freshness, flavor and aroma.

• Store the tea in a dark, cool, and dry location. Light and moisture are tea's biggest enemies as they will activate enzymes that contribute to its decomposition. The perfect place to store tea is in a pantry that has an automatic light switch and its temperature constant, unaffected by climate change. A kitchen cabinet is the next best location. Keep flavored tea apart from plain varietal or origin (pure) teas. Otherwise, the flavored tea will overpower all the other teas in the cubby. Conduct a sniff test before storing. Blended teas may have a flavor that is overwhelming. Keep smoky teas well separated; they are the most potent.  

• Buy smaller quantities of tea and drink them faster to retain freshness.

• Tightly seal bag or close tin after each use.

DO NOT:

• Place tea over the stove. The heat and moisture will harm it.
• Place tea in the refrigerator or freezer. This will burn the taste and kill the aroma.
• Store tea in a garage. It will be exposed to light and moisture which are the primary causes of deteriorating tea.
• Purchase tea that comes in a see-through glass container. You may not know how long that tea has been sitting on the shelf.

I have a confession to make. Prior to meeting my southern husband, I have never heard of Sun Tea before. When he found this out, he had the most quizzical expression on his face as if he saw something in my teeth and couldn't decide whether to laugh or cringe.

And so I got the lecture.  "Sun Tea", he proclaimed, "is part of what bonds children with their mothers, is what makes childhood memories everlasting, it's what no child should ever be deprived of, otherwise its a childhood not worth having..."  OK, maybe I am exaggerating the lecture a little bit. 

So in order to save my marriage, I embarked on a Sun Tea journey to discover everything I can about this mysteriously fascinating summer liquid. I phoned the in-laws of the south for ole' fashioned recipes,  I scoured the Internet for variety of recipes, I researched recent safety concerns in the making of Sun Tea and experimented in my own backyard to bring you this very thesis on Sun Tea.

To begin, here are some basic ground rules in preparing to make Sun Tea:

1. Watch Out for Bacteria.  If you ask the new-timers, the process of making Sun Tea can form a bacteria that can be harmful to your health. If you ask the ole-timers, a lil' bit of bacteria ain't hurt no body! The issue is that using the sun's rays to make tea can facillitate bacteria called alcaligenes viscolactis, according to the Center of Disease Control. Tea steeped in a jar on your porch won't get any hotter than 130 degrees Fahrenheit. In order to truly kill germs, water needs to be heated at 195 degrees F for 3-5 minutes.

To appease both the old school and the new school of thought, it's best to avoid risk yet without stripping yourselves from fond childhood memories by doing the following:

a) Use a sterilized glass container (more about glass below)

b)  Use a strainer after steeping Sun Tea to rid of any aliens in it.

c) Simply toss the tea away if you see foamy, syrupy substances or any weird-looking strands.

2. Use a Glass Pot. According to recent studies, plastic containers may be adding harmful chemicals to the liquids they contain. The procedure speeds up if the liquid bottle in plastic is left in the sun for a long time. Bottles exposed to the sun in the research showed traces of carcinogenic and neurotoxic substances.

3. Use Filtered Water.  Tap water typically contains unknown substances that without a full boil may be harmful to your health. Another cleaner and safer method to make Sun Tea is to use filtered water instead. This will also enhance the flavor of the tea itself.

4. Use Loose Leaf Tea.  Even though most of the traditional recipes utilize tea bags, I prefer to use fresh ingredients wherever I can. Tea bags to me are akin to buying pre-ground coffee in a can where the freshness is compromised. 

5. Be Creative.  Add your favorite citrus rinds and/or garden herbs to your own batch of Sun Tea.   

5. Refrigerate immediately after use.  Throw out any leftover tea after 3 days.

Pu-erh tea, which is typically made from either raw green or ‘cooked’ large leaf tea, is only tea type whose processing and storing involves maturation or aging.  Even though most Pu-erh teas are made from green tea, Pu-erh is typically classified as a black tea or in a category all its own due to the color and the fact that it has more oxidation time than most green teas.

Pu-erh tea leaves are many times pressed into ‘cakes’ and wrapped in paper to help with storage and aging.  Akin to fine wine, pu-erh cakes can be aged for many years.  Although Pu-erh is good when it is freshly produced, it can achieve amazing flavors and character as it ages.  Some tea connoisseurs will pay top dollar to have the finest, aged Pu-erh.

Puerh tea is fermented tea made from the Big Leaf (Da Ye) cultivar of tea tree grown and picked in Yunnan province of China, where the authentic leaves are best picked from ancient wild trees, not cultivated like the rest of the tea world.  It is named after the Pu’erh city which operated as a trading center for the tea, with one of the first major markets rooted in Tibet.

There are two types of Pu-erh tea: naturally fermented (raw Pu-erh) and purposely ripened (‘cooked’ Pu-erh).  The ripened Pu-erh is not actually cooked.  The leaves go through a further oxidation and maturing in an open air, slightly moist environment which has to be closely monitored to keep from spoiling the tea leaves. Both types of Pu-erh require attention to particular storage conditions for proper aging.

Aging your own Pu-erh cakes is possible, and is similar to aging cigars in a humidor.  Here are some tips for storing and aging your own Pu-erh cakes:

1. Store your Pu-erh tea in an odor-free environment.  Place an open box of baking soda in the storage area to help absorb odors.  Even the material of the storage will influence the mature flavor of the tea.  Consider a steel container if you prefer to have the natural tea aromas enhanced without peer pressure!
2. Maintain the relative humidity between 60% and 70%.  Most cigar shops will sell inexpensive hygrometers that will help you monitor the humidity.  The actual cigar humidors should be avoided though as the cedar walls will overpower the teas flavors.
3. Avoid extreme variations in climate and temperature.
4. Allow a constant flow of fresh air to go through the storage place.
5. Keep the storage area dark. Sunlight and moisture can either stop or spoil the aging process.
6. Keep the tea covered with a breathable material (fabric, or the original paper wrappers work fine) free from dust.
7. If storing a large quantity, rotate the tea once every six months to even out the exposure to fresh air.
8. Test the area you plan to store your tea in with a small amount of tea to avoid ruining a large amount of Pu-erh.
9. Check the progress of your tea often.  Pu-erh tea should never taste musty or wet.

10. Have fun and keep us all informed of the progress and any specific questions you may have along the way.  Post your thoughts and stories as comments on this blog or in our forum under the Pu-erh Storage and Aging category.