• Fill your kettle with good-tasting, cold water. If using tap water, let it run briefly before filling because tap water loses oxygen when it's left standing in the water pipes, which will make your tea taste flat.
  
  
• Boil the water when making black tea. If making a green, oolong or white tea, do not boil the water; the leaves should be infused around 185 degrees F. or they will extract bitterness.
  
  
• Preheat your teapot with warm water to maintain optimum brewing temperature.
  
  
• Measure the tea--too much or too little can ruin all efforts to make a good tasting tea. In the Tea Brewing Table, there is code after each tea. The number in the middle indicates the gram weight for a Ý4-cup pot of tea. Most teapots are a 4-cup or 6-cup pot, with the cup size holding 6 ounces. For a 6-cup pot, increase by 2 grams; for a mini pot, decrease by 2 grams. If you don't have a gram scale, we supply our customers with specially selected tea scoops at a nominal cost (they're free with a minimum order from our online catalog!). Refer to the number in the left column for the scoop size to use--#1 is the smallest size and # 4 the largest. A letter "R" next to the number means use a "rounded scoop" and an "H" translates into a "heaping scoop." All other measurements are for a Level scoop.
  
  
• Place the tea into the mesh infuser of a Chatsford teapot or use a TroubleFree cotton tea strainer or mesh tea ball. If using a tea ball, do not fill it more than half full because the tea leaves will double in size when infused.
  
  
• Just as the water reaches the boiling point, turn off the flame. Do not overboil the water or it loses oxygen, and tastes flat. Pour out the warm water in the pot. Insert the mesh infuser and pour the water onto the leaves. When the loose tea and boiling water meet, the leaves unfurl and unveil their flavorful infusion--this is called "the Agony of the Leaves."
  
  
• Time the infusion. You only want to extract flavor, not the bitter tannins. Depending upon the tea variety and your particular taste, infusions take 3 to 5 minutes. Refer to our tea list again. The number on the right indicates the optimum Brew Tme.
  
  
• Remove the mesh infuser. Cover your pot with a cozy to keep the tea warm and enjoy a cup.

Taken from Tea Time