Making a good cup of loose-leaf tea is genuinely easier than you might think, and once you've tasted the difference I doubt you'll want to go back. A few things are worth a moment's thought: your water, its temperature, what you brew it in, the leaf itself, and the timing. I brew a lot of tea, so let me walk you through how I make a cup; do it two or three times and it becomes second nature. And don't worry about committing any of it to memory, because every tea I send comes with a card that has all the specifics for that one, so there are no numbers for you to remember!
Water
Start with fresh, cold water, and only boil as much as you need; there's no sense brimming the kettle for a single mug. Water that has been sitting boiled, or boiled twice, loses the oxygen that keeps a cup tasting lively, and it can leave a faint film on the surface, so empty and refill rather than reboiling what's left. If you're in a hard-water area, filtered water makes a real difference; it's the single easiest upgrade to almost any cup.
Temperature
Temperature is what draws the flavour out. Get it right and the tea tastes rounded and sweet; too hot and it can turn a little harsh, too cool and it never quite opens up. Different teas like different heat, which is why the card with your tea gives you a temperature to aim for.
If you drink more than one kind of tea, my honest recommendation is a variable-temperature kettle. You set the temperature and it does the rest, which makes moving between a robust black tea and a delicate green effortless. I think it's one of the best investments a tea drinker can make.
You don't need one to get started, though, and it should never be the thing that stops you enjoying a cup. The easy workaround is to boil the kettle, then add a splash of cold water (about a quarter of a mug) before you pour, which brings it down to roughly the 80°C that the more delicate teas prefer. This mainly matters for green and white teas, where water straight off the boil can scorch the leaves; black teas, herbal and fruit blends and many oolongs are happy with a full boil, so for a lot of cups you can simply pour and go.
What you brew in
Two things matter here: room, and a way to separate. Tea leaves expand as they hydrate and need space to move around, and that movement is where a lot of the flavour comes from, so give them room rather than packing them into a tight little cage. Then have a simple plan for parting the leaves from the water once they're done. That might be a simple strainer basket sat in your favourite mug, a teapot you pour off through, or a roomy infuser. Any of them work well, as long as the leaves can move freely and you can lift them clear when the time comes.
Tea
As a rule of thumb, use around 2.5g to 3g of leaf per 200ml of water, roughly a heaped teaspoon for a mug. It does vary with the leaf: a spoonful of feathery silver needles weighs very differently from a spoonful of a dense rolled oolong, so the card (or scales) is more reliable than the spoon. Tea is personal, so treat this as a starting point and find the strength you enjoy. If you'd like it stronger, add a little more leaf rather than brewing for longer; more leaf gives more flavour, whereas longer mostly gives bitterness.
Time
Timing matters as much as temperature. Left too long, tea keeps drawing and can tip into bitterness; lifted out in good time, it stays bright and balanced. Use the time on the card as your guide, and set a timer if it helps. When it's up, separate the leaves from the water straight away (this is where your strainer or teapot earns its keep) so the tea doesn't carry on brewing in the cup.
Brew it more than once
Whole-leaf tea has more to give than a single cup. Brew the first infusion as usual, then strain off all of the liquid and keep the damp leaves. For the next cup, top up with fresh hot water for the same time or a little shorter. Two things help: keep the gap between infusions short so the leaves stay warm and moist, and drain the tea off fully each time so the leaves aren't left sitting in liquid and over-brewing. Plenty of teas give a lovely second and third cup this way.
Making it your own
Once you've got the hang of it, the enjoyable part is adjusting to taste. If a cup is ever not quite what you hoped, it's usually just one of three things: the water a touch too hot, a little more or less leaf, or the timing. Change one at a time and you'll soon land on your perfect cup.
Not sure which size to order in the first place? I've written a short guide to that too: Which size should I buy?
Shop the teasValerie
Tea Sommelier, Team Tea