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(Nigel at Teacraft) writes:

> (Jansen The TeaLover) wrote in message . com>...
>
> > [...aged Livingstone tea is wonderful...]
> >
> The Mombasa company packing Livingstone Tea went bankrupt in 2001 so
> there is no more of this blend available. The owner Adrian Archer
> (who used to write to r.f.d.t) seems to have disappeared from tea
> circles. The CTC tea was vacuum packed in foil which gives it a head
> start for long storage but the key to holding quality in storage is to
> start with a dry tea (well dried and packed at less than 4% moisture)
> and to pack it so that it cannot pick up any moisture. This is much
> more difficult than is generally imagined - to prevent the entry of
> ambient air your pack or jar or tin must be hermetically sealed, and
> even then every time you open it, more ambient air gets in. The
> equilibrium relative humidity for home stored tea in contact with
> ambient air is generally between 7 and 10% moisture in the leaf.
> Three months shelf life is max at these levels.

Nigel: I wonder what, if anything, you do to retard the hydration of a
tea you really love once you've opened the package. Silica gel
packets, maybe?

/Lew
---
Lew Perin /
http://www.panix.com/~perin/babelcarp.html