Knowing how to brew tea can make the difference between a tea that exposes its true flavor and color, and a tea that is dark, bitter and unpleasant. There are many aspects that need to be taken into consideration when preparing tea and each of these aspects plays a very important role. The amount of water and tea leaves, the temperature of the water and even the teaware used for brewing the tea influence the final aroma. It must also be noted that the brewing instructions may differ from one variety of tea to the other.

Full and semi-full tea leaves, despite being more expensive, can be used for more than one infusion. This is not the case when using crushed leaves or tea bags. Still, this is not the only difference between full leaves and tea bags. Despite being more convenient, tea bags just simply do not offer the full experience.

You must keep in mind that the flavor and the color of the brew will differ from one infusion to the other, as well as the intensity. The recommended temperature for the water differs between the infusions. There really isn't any rule here. You simply need to play with your tea a bit and find your preferences and rituals. If the tea becomes bitter, then you have extracted the tannings out of the leaf that cause the bitter flavors. This will occur when the water was either too hot or the tea steeped too long. Around here, we all have our own preparation rituals that differ. Once again. Take the time to get to know your tea.

Steeping times are also different between the tea varieties. More than that, whether the leaves have been used before or are at the first infusion will also influence the steeping time. For example, Pu-erh tea leaves are infused for 12 to 30 seconds if it is the first time. Steeping times ranging between 2 and 10 minutes are necessary for the last infusions.

After brewing the tea, you can add milk and/or sugar/honey, but this is a not a rule, as there are certain varieties of tea that do not go well with milk. Chilling tea is also a popular practice, especially during hot summer days. To make iced tea even more refreshing, you can add slices of lemon or lime, but this may alter the original flavor of the brew.

These simple rules will allow you to get to know your teas easier:

1. Black tea, Puerh tea, Oolong tea leaves take well to boiling hot water. If they get bitter, you steeped them too long. Boil water, remove from heat, add tea, let steep for 2-5 mins depending on how strong you like your tea.

2. Green tea, white tea and certain herbs will become bitter if the water is too hot or steeped too long. Boil the water, remove from heat and let it set for 20-30 seconds, then pour over the leaves and let steep for 30 secs to 1 min and strain. Or, let the water sit for 2-3 mins and steep 2-3 mins for a fuller bodied young leaf tea.

If your adding milk, sugar, cream. There are 2 methods:

1. Add cream and sugar to the tea immediately once it is served. Mix well.

2. After steeping, but before straining the tea, add milk/cream/sugar, bring tea back to a boil, let sit for 1-2 mins until tea is a copper color, then serve.