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 First, you need fresh water. Pour out the water in the kettle from the day before. Pour in some fresh water from your preferred source. I use filtered tap water and am please with the result.  Place the kettle on the stove get the heat going. Do not watch it. A watched kettle will not boil.  While the water is boiling, prepare the rest of the gear. You will need a teapot, a cup, a strainer, a teaspoon, and your favorite tea. Note my excellent teapot. It's Japanese and I got it for a steal on eBay.  Good tea does not come in tea bags. Good tea is loose and keep in a sealed container tin. I get my tea from Golden Moon Tea. They have the good stuff.  Now here is the tricky part. You need to measure out a heaping teaspoon of tea and put it in the strainer holder. Isn't it amazing that the teaspoon holds exactly the right amount of tea for a cup of tea. If you are making more than one cup of tea, then you should put in one teaspoon per cup. Some mention adding another teaspoon of tea 'for the pot', but I haven't found it necessary.  Some people like to use teabags to skip all this, but that would be wrong. This poor woman is briefly dipping her crappy teabag  Next, you need to warm up your teapot. You want to make sure that the hot water used to brew your tea stays hot. To ensure this, you want to warm up the teapot with a little hot water before you begin to brew.  Just swish it around the teapot for a few seconds and then dump it out. The teapot should feel warm.  Now you are ready to put the tea in the pot. Just dump it in.  Now pour in the hot water. About a cup more that you are going to drink.  The tea is now steeping in the pot. I let mine steep for about a minute. Too long, and the tea will be quite bitter.  A few crazy types enjoy their tea with the leaves in the cup. These people are, of course, crazy. Use a small strainer to catch the tea leaves before they enter your cup.  The cooking is complete. You have successful made a cup of tea. |
