Like any fresh, high quality food, tea needs to be properly prepared to get the best out of it. When cooking good quality fresh food care needs to be taken - would you boil asparagus for thirty minutes or fry a fillet steak for an hour?
Although tea-making is much more simple than cooking food, it is still worth paying attention to a few important details including water temperature, amount of leaf, steeping time and the size of the teapot you use.
There are a few general rules which one might like to bear in mind:
The larger the amount of leaf, the stronger the infusion
The longer the infusion time the stronger the tea
Different teas require different temperature water: boiling water may scold delicate green and white teas
Small teapots are preferable because the strength of the infusion can easily be controlled. Large teapots both allow the flavour of the tea to dissipate and the leaves to stew.
