Monday, November 14, 2011

Efficiency of partial storing in the freezer


This is a test for the efficiency of partial storing in the freezer.  Imagine storing your tea in freezer.  I suppose you take out the tea from the freezer once a week to transfer some into your daily tea caddy.  In this case, your tea is repeatedly thawed and frozen, and more over, it is exposed to the fresh air which may encourage more oxidation.  So, my assumption is that partial storing can reduce those risks and I wanted to know if it is worth the effort.

Condition
Term: 28days
Sample:  Sencha and matcha
Container:  Triple packing (small plastic pouch, tin tea caddy, plastic bag with zipper)
Sample H: Opened once a week  (Once a week, it is taken out from the freezer and opened for a few minutes and returned into the freezer.  Every time before opening, it is left in room temperature for one hour to avoid gathering frost and moisture)
Sample J: Not opened,  (Kept in the freezer for 28 days and not opened)

According to my theory, J will be in better condition than H after one month.

H: Opened once a week
J: Not opened

Sencha


Matcha


Result
Well, I could not find any significant differences between the two samples.  For sencha, Sample J was slightly better than H and I could not distinguish which is better for matcha.  There is a certain effect from the partial storing, but the impact is very limited for a span of one month.  I would like to conclude that in this test partial storing in the freezer is not so worth it for my casual tea considering to the effort.  (If you want severe storing for your expensive teas, this might work.)




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