How long can you keep steeped leaves?

Ahh, jelizk. I was once like you. Years ago, (an eon it seems) I would steep my leaves once or twice an then, not wanting to waste the leaves, I would stash the infuser basket in the fridge. From personal experience I urge you not to do this. For a couple of reasons.

One being that the leaves will then taste like whatever is in your fridge. Does not matter where you put them. There is no air circulating around the damp leaves, so not only will you attract unwholesome smells, but mold and mildew as well. Those lukewarm leaves will not have enough time to cool down, and bacteria will set in.

I wouldn’t leave them out overnight either. Not only will you run into the same problem, but the leaves will not taste in any way palatable.

What I occasionally do with leaves I am not ready to part with, I steep as many times as I can, like two or three Western style.(depending on the type of tea) Then I fill up a quart mason jar with filtered water and the half-spent leaves. I put that in the fridge for a few hours or overnight. Then bam! Iced tea.

Hope that helps! Welcome to the community!

Im puerh lover so some sessions take 2-3 days. no problem. I do not resteep Darjeleeng, Assam or Ceylon Teas. they are good for one time only.

Been working on my current pu-erh for just about 3 days now which is my maximum. I haven’t had any go moldy on me yet.

I will also keep leaves 2-3 days. I drain off as much liquid as possible, spread out the leaf, and leave the lid off the pot. Never had an issue.

That said, tea is inexpensive enough that if you are in doubt – throw it out.

I only resteep once or twice or three times. Once for green. Once for some blacks such as golden monkey—never Assam or Darjeeling. Twice or thrice for oolong. Already it feels like a gift getting these extra steeps, which are always the same day. Then I toss the spent leaves. I never save leaves over night. Why? I already have way too much tea! :-)

I resteep within 12 hours for most teas. Left out too long, wet tea leaves may develop a moldy smell and taste – especially Japanese greens – or they may dry out. Either way the flavor is impaired.

Mostly it’s a flavor thing about how long you leave between steeps. Healthwise, it depends on how clean you think your brewing environment is. I know that SBT says their iced tea should be drunk within 3-4 days.

Personally I’ve left tea leaves in brewing containers (steepers, teapots, thermoses) overnight fine, with and without liquid, and I’ve never had a problem with it. Mind you, my brewing containers are never the same as my drinking containers, so tea is always decanted after steeping. Sometimes I might go two or three days if it’s a tea whose flavor just keeps going and going and going (mostly puerh). If I’m steeping and drinking out of the same cup, I won’t go more than a day- but that’s mostly includes if I started it at night, and then rebrew the leaves for a morning cup. I’ve never experienced moldy leaves, but I leave in a fairly dry and cool climate.

If I re-steep, I do it in the same day. I just don’t trust mold, which you cannot always see, smell, or notice. I haven’t researched it and may be paranoia, but I know mold can be a scary thing, and living in Florida I’m in a wet, humid environment where all kinds of stuff seems to breed easily.

I leave tea for a day or two. Not in the water, not in the fridge. Usually just in the infuser in the pot, with the cover on or off depending on who did it. [edit: I’m talking about ceramics here. If something went funky, I could clean it easily.] If I see or smell anything, I toss it. Otherwise, I use it. I now live in a very humid house so I have had tea mold on me which previously did not happen but it still took 3 or 4 days. I know mold is one of the topics that have become really frightening but I have taught myself to take a deep breath and be realistic. Yes, it can be harmful. No, you don’t want lots of it. But most of the time, you’re going to be ok. For your tea, do what is comfortable for you. Lots of sites and people will say there are hard and fast rules, but there aren’t. Be reasonable and do what works for you. If it’s not working, try something else.

Just a note. I highly recommend against leaving anything overnight in a yixing pot. If you happen to get mold in it, it’s pretty much a nightmare to remove.