There's nothing better than a cup of tea made with fresh tea leaves!

But. There's also nothing more disappointing than expecting a fresh cup of tea and getting an old, bland cup.

Tea, like any other food product, needs to be stored properly in order to maintain freshness and to avoid a dull, lifeless cup. From the connoisseur to the novice, storing tea is a simple process that only requires the proper storage containers and the right location. Keep these do's and don'ts in mind when you decide to give a new tea a home.

1. Do: Move Your Tea to Proper Storage Containers After Purchase

Say you walked into a tea shop and sampled the perfect tea. It was so good you decided to purchase a couple of ounces of it to enjoy at home for the next couple of months; the tea shop scoops a couple of ounces into a little paper bag, gives you instructions on how to brew, and you take your new tea home.

Or how about this: you purchased your favorite tea from your favorite online vendor and they ship it to you in a vacuum-sealed bag for that extra freshness. Though these bags are fine as storage for transit from shop to pantry, they're not the most ideal for display. To keep your tea fresh and flavorful for many brewings to come, store your tea in an airtight container, preferably made of glass or metal.

Your Adagio packaging is perfect if you're planning on consuming your leaves within a year after opening. And some pouches, like this year's newly designed Cupid's Cup pouch is sure to impress sitting on any counter!

2. Don't: Expose Tea to Strong Odors

Tea has the ability to absorb nearby odors. This can be a great way to use up old tea leaves for cleaning around the house, but if you’re planning to brew those leaves, it can lead to a very disappointing cup.

Kitchens are home to a multitude of strong odors, so care must be taken when selecting a place to store tea. Those spices you like to cook with? That garlic on the counter? Keep your tea away from them! Even strong-smelling teas (such as lapsang souchong, known for its strong, smokey scent) should be stored away from delicate, light teas to avoid contamination.

Additionally, avoid storing tea in plastic food containers since plastic can absorb odors that can also be absorbed by tea.

3. Do: Store Tea in a Cool Spot, Away From Heat and Moisture

Heat will cause tea to degrade, so when storing tea, make sure you store it in a cool place where there aren't any temperature fluctuations. Avoid places that can get hot, like near windows, the top of refrigerators, radiators, and near stoves to name a few. If an area gets to be above 80 degrees Fahrenheit, find another place to store your tea.

Moisture is also an enemy of tea (at least, until you brew it). Tea loves moisture and it will naturally absorb moisture from the humidity in the air along with any other odors that humidity picked up (which end up in your cup and lead to some unpleasant results). Take care when storing tea to avoid humid conditions, especially if you live in a particularly humid climate.

4. Don't: Freeze Tea (Don't Even Refrigerate It)

Look, I know freezing tea (or otherwise artificially keeping your tea cool) is tempting, but don't do it. While tea should be stored in a cool place, you're better off storing teas in a cool pantry than in a freezer or refrigerator where a whole slew of problems can occur.

While some tea manufacturers will store teas in refrigerators for travel, they have the right equipment to do so. Freezing or refrigerating tea can cause moisture in the tea containers, which can ruin the tea as well as cause it to pick up unwanted freezer/refrigerator tastes.

5. Do: Store Your Tea in a Dark Place

Sunlight is a necessity of life: we benefit from it as a source of Vitamin D, plants need it to live, not to mention that everything just looks brighter and cheerier on a sunny day. It can also be very damaging to tea leaves. Sunlight and even artificial light can cause tea to fade, creating a flat, flavorless brew.

Store tea away from any light sources. This is especially important if you use glass containers: while they let you see the tea without opening the container, extra care needs is required to avoid light damage.

6. Don't: Leave Tea Exposed to Air

There are plenty of foods that you could leave out on the countertop: tea is not one of them. Air can cause tea to degrade: in fact, halting the oxidation process (or what naturally happens when tea is exposed to oxygen) is a key component of green tea production as well as white tea and oolong production at the appropriate times.

When tea is exposed to air for long periods of time, it can lose its freshness and flavor, creating a bland cup. Always keep tea in an airtight container. Additionally, you want to avoid using a container that is too big for the amount of tea you're storing: more empty space means more air that can get to your tea.

7. Do: Keep a Record of When You Bought Your Tea

Of course, not doing this won't cause your tea to spoil, but it's still a good idea nevertheless.

While tea doesn't go bad in the traditional sense, it can get old and lose its freshness and flavor. Keeping a record of when you purchased your tea is a great way to determine when you should use up your tea before it has a chance to get old. Green and white teas should be used within a year (six months for more delicate green teas), while oolongs and black teas can last for three years (depending on the variety). If you can find out when your tea was harvested, all the better! That will help you gauge on when tea should be used up even more.

8. Don't: Throw Out Those Old Teas (Just Yet)

You'll definitely want to clean out old tea from your containers to make room for newer, fresher teas, but don't throw out those old tea leaves right away.

Sure, those tea leaves you bought a few years back have seen better days, but just because they might not brew the perfect cup anymore doesn't mean you can't get one last use out of them.

Old tea can be repurposed around the house, including for cleaning, deodorizing, and even for beauty. By repurposing old tea leaves, you can get one final use out of your leaves before they make that final trip to the big teapot in the sky.

Looking for more handsome display storage options? Check out Adagio's display pieces and Master Tea's washi tins (your Adagio log in will work on Master Tea's!).