questions about tea brewing?

Method: If you're using bags, you don't need to brew it in a pot. You can just boil the water, pour it in a mug and add the bag. If you use loose-leaf tea, get a tea ball or mesh strainer to brew with. Same thing, though - just put the tea ball or strainer in the mug, add water, and let it brew.

Volume: One bag per cup (8 fl oz) or one heaping teaspoon of loose leaves per 6 fl oz. Feel free to adjust for taste, though. I like stout tea.

Temperature: Black teas should be brewed pretty much right off the boil. Green tea should technically be brewed with slightly cooler water. If you let your pot sit off the heat for a few minutes, that'll be close enough. White tea needs the water to be a little cooler than that, so let the pot sit for 5-8 minutes before pouring the water.

Timing: Everyone has their preference for how long to leave tea in the water, but in my experience black teas in a tea bag shouldn't brew longer than 2 minutes before you remove it. The finer texture of the tea makes it brew more quickly than loose leaf, which should steep for around 3 to 5 minutes. Green teas shouldn't steep longer than 3 or 4 minutes. Herbal teas normally need at least 5 minutes. The longer you leave the bag in the water, the more bitter and acrid the flavor will get, though, so don't lose track of time.

Tea that's loose-leaf is usually more cost-effective and of better quality. You just need your favorite mug, an airtight container, and a stainless steel tea ball to do loose-leaf. You don't need fancy equipment unless you plan to host people for a traditional tea. The site below is a good information source, and it's also where I order my tea from.

1- you boil water, even in a microwave

2 - you pour boiling water in a cup

3- then, you put the tea bag in

4- let sit for 5 to 10 minutes. do not squeeze tea bag (avoid bitterness).

Okay. First off you just need to boil the water in the teapot. When it is boiling, pour it into a cup. And then put your teabag in it! Bon Jour!

First, you asked a question about *green* tea but got some answers relating primarily to black tea and they're brewed differently though there's some overlap.

Check out some of the links for brewing teas in MY answer to this previous question to get you started, including water temps for various teas:

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=201010...

P.S. My personal favorite hot teas these days btw:

(using 6 oz water per teabag or equivalent loose tea leaves ...nearly-boiling water for black teas, and somewhat cooler water for green and herb teas ...steeping 4+ minutes for black teas, 4+ min for Jasmine green tea, or as long as I want for herb teas)

....black tea (Irish Breakfast Tea) + sugar + milk

....black tea + sugar + milk, chai style (adding at least cinnamon, plus often cardamom, ginger, cloves)

....black tea (Darjeeling) + sugar + milk

....green tea (Jasmine)

....green tea + sugar, adding springs of spearmint for awhile (mint tea)

....various herb teas (from tea bags or made myself), adding sugar usually

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