If I keep my cakes in a dry environment will they still age, just slowly? Or will they oxidise and turn more like black tea?
Tea seems to lose its flavor when it dries out. Long-term in a dry environment, I would worry about the tea slowly gaining a lifeless stale taste. It doesn’t take a lot to maintain humidity though. Some people report good experiences with just mylar bags and boveda packs.
Over a single year or so, I wouldn’t worry too much about it.
Awesome, thanks. If it’s just slightly low humidity do you think it’d take longer to lose flavour?
This is something you’ll have to experiment with. Also, once you’ve “lost the flavor” it can be partially brought back by cranking up the humidity. I don’t know what your storage situation is, but a cheap humidity monitor, some plastic bags, and some humidity packs (I like the 62% Integra boost ones) is not a huge investment and will really help your tea age gracefully.