Everybody knows how quickly fresh flowers can dry out. Luckily, a proper stash jar can preserve flavor and potency for several months! In order to find the best stash jar for your current situation, it's important to consider a few things:
headspace
air exposure
The best stash jars are airtight. This is an important feature to protect the contents from any airborne contaminants, and to maintain an internal humidity. This is especially important in tropical climates where high humidity levels can cause quality herbs to absorb moisture and get spongy. Some groups like Boveda have created products to help manage the moisture content of your favorite herbs. If your herbs have been properly dried and cured, humidity shouldn't be an issue. Something to consider: while smoking moist herb will be harsh and difficult to ignite, a quality dry herb vape can handle—no problem.
light damage
The best stash jars will shield the contents from light exposure—especially sunlight, which will degrade your herb quickly. Miron glass is a specialty glass that offers UV-filtering capabilities, but these types of jars can be very expensive. Some jars, like RESTASH, have a silicon sleeve to add an element of light protection to their mason jars. Both of these options are great ways to prevent degradation due to light exposure. Smoothee stash jar features a label made of biaxially-oriented polypropylene (BOPP), which provides style and a layer of protection for your favorite herbs. Click here to explore smoothee label art!
temperature
Aromas can fade from your favorite flowers within hours of exposure to elevated temperatures. Experts recommend storing aromatic herbs under 70ºF to minimize degradation, because aromatics (called terpenes) begin to evaporate and diffuse into the air faster as temps increase. We like to store our herbs at 59ºF to ensure optimum freshness.
time of storage
A proper stash jar can preserve freshness for months. Ensure the material going into storage has been properly dried and cured. Some experts suggest snapping a stem to see if it splits to indicate a proper cure; wet herb won't have brittle stems and could result in mold growing over time. If you have access to a testing laboratory like SC Labs, you can test the material for Water Activity. Shelf-stable herb should have a water activity level at or below 0.6% aw. Water activity is a precise measurement indicating how much water is available to potential molds or bacteria in the material. Quality herb may still have 13% moisture content, but the Water Activity must be at or below 0.6% aw to preserve freshness and maximize shelf-stability.
