longevity of tea and tea bags

[nohorn]

What is the shelf life of tea and tea bags, do they last indefinitely if stored properly. I have tea and tea bags that are years old, I am too cheap to throw them away.

[nonomaybe]

Try one, it won't poison you - unless of course someone knows better!!! I have found that as long as the tea leaves have been in a fairly tight container and the teabags are dry that all is tickety boo. But that was old as in months.

[coccinelle]

I've just found an ornamental Xmas tin at the back of a cupboard and out of curiosity opened it and there were a few tea bags in it. They looked OK but when I made a pot of tea with them they were definitely 'off' they tasted old. They'll have been in there for a good 6 or 7 years. I must add the tin gets cleaned every year with everything else in the cupboard but I've just never opened it to see what was inside.