[masraum]

Originally Posted by Bill Douglas

Ah, ha. Interesting.

I remember seeing Mr. twinings on TV. He was a really neat guy. He said draw tea (not just his) for three minutes, don't stir it, and use 90 celsius which = 194 Fahrenheit. something about boiling point brings out the tannins too much.

I have a Zojirushi hot water bottle/heater. I think it's got 3 set-points, 160º, 195º, 208º. The default is 195 and that's where we keep it.

I once found a site that sold Asian teas that had different (excellent) recommendations for different temps and steep times for various teas. Most of the places that I get tea now, even if the tea itself is good, the directions are usually crap. Weird stuff like "4 tbs of tea for 5 mins." Obviously, they want you to come back and buy more tea, but good grief, 4 tbs! And 5 mins? Tea rarely takes that long, and usually doesn't taste that good if it does, at least, not to me.