My tin smells of the tea that was in it before

In short

Tea absorbs aroma readily — the same property that makes jasmine scenting possible works against you in a cupboard, and it works in both directions. Washing the tin is the instinctive fix and usually the wrong one.

Likely causes, in order

Most likely first. Answer the question under each one before moving on — several of these look alike in the cup and are told apart only by what was done to the leaf.

1. 1. The tin previously held a scented or smoked tea

   Storage

   Check: Did it hold Earl Grey, jasmine, lapsang or a flavoured blend?

   Fix: These transfer permanently to porous liners and to lid gaskets. Keep one tin per strongly scented tea and never rotate them; it is cheaper than losing a good leaf.

2. 2. It was washed and stored damp

   Storage

   Check: Did you wash it out before refilling?

   Fix: Do not wash a caddy between teas unless the previous tea was strongly aromatic. A washed tin holds moisture, and moisture in a caddy is worse than a trace of the last tea.

3. 3. A washi, wood or cork liner

   Equipment

   Check: Is any part of the interior paper, wood or cork rather than metal or glass?

   Fix: Porous liners hold aroma and will not release it. Use glass or lined metal for anything you intend to rotate between teas.

4. 4. Stored next to coffee or spices

   Storage

   Check: What else is in that cupboard?

   Fix: A tin that is not genuinely airtight takes on whatever is around it. Move the tea away from anything with a smell of its own before assuming the tin is the problem.

When this cannot be fixed

A caddy that has held a smoked or heavily scented tea generally cannot be reclaimed for a delicate one. Airing it for weeks helps and rarely finishes the job; assign it permanently to strong teas instead.

Related problems

Sharing a cause category, a tea type or a brewing method with this one.

• My clay pot has changed how the tea tastes — A tea that tasted right in porcelain comes out muted, differently scented, or carrying something that was not in the leaf.
• My pu-erh tastes exactly the same as when I bought it — A cake bought several years ago to age has not noticeably changed, and it was stored carefully.
• My refrigerated tea has gone damp and lost its aroma — Tea kept cold has become soft or slightly clumped, smells muted, and tastes flat and papery within weeks of being put away to protect it.
• My tea goes damp within weeks and I live somewhere humid — Leaf that arrived loose and crisp becomes soft, slightly clumped and quiet within a few weeks, and the aroma flattens long before any best-before date is close.
• My tea tastes of the cupboard it was kept in — The dry leaf carries a note that does not belong to it — spice, coffee, cleaning products, or simply a generalised kitchen smell — and the same note comes through in the cup.

Sources