Q: Happy holidays, The Kitchn! I'm a big tea lover and have been unsuccessfully searching for a large, good quality tea chest both in specialty shops and on the web. I'm looking for a good way to store my expanding stockpile of loose tea and tea bags in my modestly-sized kitchen.
Do you or your readers have any tips on where to find a good tea chest or some creative storage ideas? Thanks!
Sent by R
Editor: R, a few ideas:
• Inexpensive jars with plus/minus signs for caf/decaf tea bags. Not good storage for fine loose-leaf tea, of course, but nice for that stash of miscellaneous tea bags.
• Good Product: Teabag Storage Caddy - Another nice solution for tea bags.
• More suggestions for an elegant tea chest.
For loose leaf tea, we use a small collection of canisters and sealed jars.
Readers, any suggestions for R?
Related: Good Question: Best Storage for Loose Tea?
(Image: Etsy)
Straw Mat from The ...

It ain't pretty, and all the teas go in together, but I have a tall OXO Pop top container where I store tea bags. It fits perfectly in the small vertical space between my coffee maker and microwave (unfortunately, across the kitchen from my kettle).
I would be searching ebay, etsy, rubylane, brick-and-mortar antique shops, etc. for a gorgeous antique.
Thank you thank you for asking this question. I'm at my wits' end with stacks of tins on my counter that are four high.
tea ideally needs an airtight opaque container and really it's a mistake to mix different types up together as the flavours will affect each other.
In our house we get through about 80 tea bags a week (yes we're british :)) so normal tea bags just stay in their box until they are used up.
All the more exotic varieties have a cupboard all to themselves.
I looked into this problem for a bit and sided on a more non-traditional option called a Masala Dabba. They range in price, size, and design but a nice stainless steel one costs about $25.00 on amazon. Originally for indian spices, this works perfect for loose leaf teas - especially if you don't want to stack everything and have multiple flavors to play with.
I, too, am plagued by a growing collection of square metal tins. What I've been considering is gluing magnets to their sides, and installing a metal plate on which they could hang. At least then they wouldn''t topple over and bean me in the head whenever I open my tea cupboard.
I bought a retro-styled red metal breadbox at Target last year, but now that it's winter and I want my tea closer to my stove & kettle, it's full of tea instead of bread.
It is not clear to me whether you are looking for individual containers or a large container to hold the tea caddys you already have. One pound ricotta cheese containers will hold tea and have flat lids so you can stack them. You can also identify the contents by applying stick on labels. Not pretty but functional. At the other extreme, I keep some tea in those classic Mariage Freres black canisters which I have been collecting for years. Nothing looks more elegant, I think. They are available on line, but "cher"
You can find a 6 compartment lucite tea bag container here: http://www.morestorage.com/cat/1/s/4/product/221/id/221/m/17/6-COMPARTMENT-BOX.aspx.
This does not work for loose leaves but is very attractive and orderly for bags.
I buy Mariage Frères teas, and most of them come in very attractive tins, which I then jst buy refills for. Not actually that expensive, even with the shipping. (It is much cheaper to buy off their website than to buy the tea in local stores).
Mariage Frères also has some attractive tea caddies on their site...
http://www.mariagefreres.com/boutique/UK/empty-tea-tins.html
I've bought some of those as well.
You can find antique silver tea caddies like the one next to your question online sometimesif you search.
Another place to check is Japanese stores (even furniture and object stores), which often carry attractive metal tea tins papered with handmade Japanese paper. They also carry attractive lacquerware containers which work well for tea.
http://zensuke.com/teacontainer.html
http://www.kaikado.jp/english/index.html
http://www.holymtn.com/teapots/CHA-5.htm
http://www.tokyotoshi.com/catalog/default.php?osCsid=link&language=en&cPath=268_277&brandId=studiogala
http://shop.tea-charaku.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=4_11&products_id=26&zenid=5h3i2lsel1e3121eopga59q3u6
Many years ago, I saw a pictures of one of Jean George's restaurants where they had set up an attractive loose tea service with a number of different types of boxes -- silver, wood, many very ethnic ones. You just have to keep your eyes peeled... (but again, take care to find things that are opaque and airtight, otherwise you will lose your precious tea).
Having re-read your question, it seems that you are looking for a single large container to store all your teas in... There is no such box. Oh sure, there are those large wooden boxes for tea bags, as one poster commented, you should never store different teas in a single container, as their flavours will blend.
My solution was to have our kitchen pantry made very shallow, so that when you open the door, all the tins are displayed at once, so that you don't lose any at the back.
Alternatively, you could install a shelf and display your tea in the very pretty caddies I have suggested above, or have them displayed on a tray like Jean Georges did, which was much like a drinks tray.
Good luck! (it's a fun project)
I found an old wooden 6-drawer card catalog on craigslist and use it to store tins and boxes of tea. The metal drawers inside were rusty, so I spray painted them light blue, which is a nice surprise of color every time I open the drawers. It's not the most space-efficient arrangement, but I like it!
I don't know what you can do for loose teas, other than nice jars, but for tea bags, we bought a beautiful tea chest in a dark mahogany-like wood with a glass top and little cubbies for each type of tea to go in. I think we got it on clearance for around $40 at Bombay Co. I don't know if you have that store in the States, though.