Stocking herbs and teas

[Birch]

Hi tea and herb people!

 

I'm looking for best way to stock my herbs and teas and such. What's best? I don't want the stronger ones "contaminating" the others. Are "vacuum" jars a good idea? What about freezing?

How long does one keep tea and herbs anyway?

 

Reason for asking. I just bought a very "pungent" herb and it stinks the place out.

 

Thank you!

[Taomeow]

Hi tea and herb people!

 

I'm looking for best way to stock my herbs and teas and such. What's best? I don't want the stronger ones "contaminating" the others. Are "vacuum" jars a good idea? What about freezing?

How long does one keep tea and herbs anyway?

 

Reason for asking. I just bought a very "pungent" herb and it stinks the place out.

 

Thank you!

 

Hi Kate,

 

glass jars are good, especially for the "stinky" stuff and anything powdered or otherwise finely textured. Whole uncut herbs can be stored successfully in paper bags (not plastic) for a rather long time provided your storage space is dark and dry. The most expensive ones (like high grade ginseng) are traditionally wrapped in silk or velvet and stored in wooden boxes.

 

Herbs you store need to be examined periodically for any possible pests. I had a whole batch of Korean Angelica eaten to dust within a month of purchase by some Korean insect whose eggs or larvae or whatever must have been present there. I stored it in a glass jar though so the insect didn't get to any of my other herbs.

[Birch]

Thanks TaoMeow!

 

Looks like the jars are a good idea

 

Yeah, some of the stuff is very stinky . I hadn't bet on it stinking the house out

 

Still, it does work, which is why I'll keep it around. I liked the idea of the ginseng etc in silk.

 

Deciding where to keep things is interesting (at least I think so ) I've gotten very used to putting things in the fridge (at one point, pretty much anything I ate was in there, plus a few cosmetics as an experiment) - but not everything needs to be in there. And putting some things in there doesn't seem to change their longevity either. And it depends on what time of year it is.

 

Anyway, I found this thing which I thought was cool (no pun intended) http://www.globalenvision.org/library/7/1847 - Apologies in advance to Vortex

[Gerard]

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Edited September 21, 2010 by durkhrod chogori

[Birch]

Thanks DK!

[thelerner]

Here is an unusual Herbal site I ordered from years ago. They seem fast, honest and certainly have an unusual collection.

 

Here's a quote from a newsletter they just sent:

 

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They're worth checking out if you're into herbals or shamanic stuff. I may brew up some tonics for the coming winter. Since they're best after a few months, its probably time to start choosing now.

[simply puzzled]

I'm looking for best way to stock my herbs and teas and such. What's best? I don't want the stronger ones "contaminating" the others. Are "vacuum" jars a good idea? What about freezing?

How long does one keep tea and herbs anyway?

 

If you can afford all the vacuum jars you need, by all means go for it. Otherwise, I recommend going to the canning jar section of the supermarket and getting a case of canning jars (I like Ball jars) for about $1 a pop. Get the type with the two part lids, and clean/dry them well before putting anything in. To give you an idea how well they keep herbs, yesterday I decided to dump some old herbs I have had sitting around in canning jars for about 5 years. When I opened them up, they still had a very strong aroma. If you have something finely textured or oily (like oily paprika), put it in a plastic sandwich bag, the kind you fold over not the kind with the ziploc slider, twist it shut, and put it in a jar.