How Tea Absorbs and Transfers Odors: Why It Can't Be Stored with Other Things

Tea is an excellent "odor absorber." Some people used to put spent tea leaves in the fridge to absorb smells for exactly this reason. For pu'er meant to be stored long term, this trait becomes something to guard against.

Does Pu'er Absorb Smells?

Yes, and quite noticeably, for three reasons:

• It's very dry: the national standard requires finished raw pu'er to be below 13% moisture, and dry leaves absorb moisture from the air, with odor molecules coming along with it.
• It has a lot of surface area: rolled leaves are full of wrinkles, and even pressed into a cake, there are many gaps inside.
• It's stored a long time: pu'er is kept for years, so even a faint smell nearby builds up on the tea over time.

That's why, among the four principles of storing pu'er (dry, ventilated, dark, and odor-free), "odor-free" is as important as dry. See How to Store Pu'er at Home.

What Happens If It's Kept in the Kitchen?

The kitchen is one of the worst places to keep tea:

• Cooking fumes and seasonings: fumes from stir-frying and the smells of soy sauce, spices, scallions, and garlic gradually cling to the tea.
• Moisture: cooking, boiling water, and washing dishes all make the air humid.
• Temperature swings: the stove, oven, and heat from the fridge make the temperature rise and fall.

Tea kept in the kitchen for a few months often brews with a rancid or off-taste, and its aroma turns muddy.

Other Places at Home to Avoid

With a newly bought wooden cabinet or tea cabinet, it's best to leave the doors open and air it out for a few weeks, and only put tea inside once you're sure it doesn't smell. For choosing containers, see Choosing Storage Containers.

Do Raw and Ripe Tea Transfer Smells to Each Other?

Yes. Ripe tea carries a pile taste from wodui and a heavier fermented smell; kept in the same box, it masks the floral and honey notes of raw tea, which then tastes stuffy. We suggest:

• Keep raw and ripe tea apart, ideally in different cabinets.
• Give strongly scented teas (such as xiao qing gan with citrus peel, scented teas, or smoked teas) their own area.
• Bag or box raw teas from different mountains and years separately too, to preserve each one's character.
• Put newly bought tea with a heavy storage taste somewhere separate to air out, rather than crowding it in with other teas.

Storing xiao qing gan and tea bags is covered in Storing Dragon Pearls, Loose Tea, Tea Bags, and Xiao Qing Gan.

Can Tea That Has Picked Up Odors Be Saved?

It depends on the kind of smell and how strong it is:

• Mild, natural smells (such as cardboard or another tea's aroma): unwrap the tea and leave it somewhere dry, ventilated, and odor-free, and the smell will slowly fade over a few weeks to a few months. Rinsing once when brewing also reduces it a lot.
• Stronger food smells or cigarette smoke: need longer, and may not fully clear.
• Chemical smells (camphor, cleaning products, paint, fragrance): very hard to get rid of completely, and the tea won't taste good when brewed. We don't recommend drinking it.

When dealing with it, don't put the tea directly with things like coffee grounds or activated charcoal to "absorb the smell"; these have smells of their own and may make things more complicated. Moving the tea to a clean environment and letting time carry the smell away is the safest approach.

Wrapping Tea So It Doesn't Pick Up Odors

• Keep the original cotton paper: the first layer of protection.
• Add an outer layer: a kraft paper bag or clean paper bag can separate a whole cake from its surroundings.
• Use a dedicated box or cabinet: a clean corrugated cardboard box or a ventilated wooden cabinet both work, holding only tea.
• Pried loose tea: put it in a lidded ceramic jar or airtight canister and finish it within a month or two. See Storing Opened Cakes and Pried Tea.

Guyuntang's Pu'er Pyramid Tea Bag Gift Box and Bingdao Old Village Dragon Pearls just need the bag closed after opening and to be kept somewhere dry and odor-free.

FAQ

Does pu'er absorb smells? Yes. Tea is dry, has a lot of surface area, and is stored a long time, so it absorbs surrounding smells and moisture.

What happens if it's kept in the kitchen? Cooking fumes, seasonings, and moisture give the tea off-flavors and a rancid taste, and temperature swings are bad for storage.

Do raw and ripe tea transfer smells to each other? Yes. Ripe tea's pile taste masks raw tea's aroma, so it's best to keep them in different cabinets.

Can tea that has picked up odors be saved? Mild smells fade after a few weeks to a few months somewhere dry and ventilated; chemical smells are very hard to clear, and we don't recommend drinking that tea.