A nice cup of tea with good appearance, color, aroma and flavor is not only based on the quality of tea leaves and water, but is also affected by the way the tea is prepared. There are five main points we should pay attention to in order to create a tea that exudes life:

1. Quantity of tea leaves;

2. Temperature of water;

3. Quality of  water;

4. Time involve in tea infusing

5. The Tea pot made of JADE

Quantity of Tea Leaves

The "correct" quantity depends on the variety of tea leaves used, the size of the tea pot and also the tea drinker's own preferences.

Due to the vast varieties of tea leaves, the "correct" quantity varies with the kind of tea leaves used. For Green and Red tea, normally the proportion of tea leaves to water is about 1:50 to 1:60, in other words, if you put 3 grams of tea leaves into a cup, hot water should be about 150 - 200 c.c. For Puer tea, take 5-10 gram of tea leaves. If you use a tea kettle instead of a tea cup, increase the quantity of tea leaves proportionally with the size of the kettle.

Oolong tea requires more tea leaves, so fill up the tea kettle with tea leaves to 1/3 - 2/3 full or even more.

Temperature of water

In preparing water for tea, you should use strong fire so that the water can come to boil in a short period of time. Don't use weak fire for long time. In addition, use the water that has just boiled.

Ancient Chinese called over boiled water "old boiling water" which is not suitable for making tea because "old boiling water" lose most of its carbon dioxide, and would cause the tea to lose its fresh flavor. Water which has not been over boiled is called "young boiling water", but "young boiling water" is also not suitable for making tea. The reason is that the temperature of "young boiling water" is not high enough to extract the ingredients from the tea leaves, the tea will have weaker aroma and flavor. Moreover, tea leaves will float on the water surface, so the drinker will have difficulty in drinking.

The "correct temperature" of water also depends on the varieties of tea. For good quality Green tea, especially for those with bud tea leaves, don't use boiling water at 100 degree Celsius. Instead, water temperature at 80 degree Celsius is appropriate. Normally, the younger the tea leaves, the lower the temperature of water that should be used. Doing this ensures that the tea will have bright green color, fresh flavor, and vitamin C will not be destroyed. If the temperature is too high, tea color will turn yellow, the flavor will get bitter, and even worse, vitamin C will be destroyed.

For Flower tea and Red tea, we need to use boiling water at 100 degree Celsius. Low temperature water reduce the diffusion of materials from tea leaves to water, and thus weaken the flavor of the tea. For Oolong tea and Puer, normally a relatively greater quantity of tea is needed. Because the tea leaves are relatively big, boiling water at 100 degree Celsius must be used. Sometimes in order to maintain the temperature of the tea pot, we can use boiling water to heat up the pot before making the tea. When the tea is infusing, drip hot water on the pot's outer surface.

Quality of water

The water used in the tea ceremony is as important as the tea itself. Chlorine and fluoride in tap water should be filtered out as they harm the flavor of the tea. Distilled water makes flat tea and should be avoided. High mineral content in the water brings out the richness and sweetness of green tea. Black teas taste better when made with water containing less Volvic. Ideal tea water should have an alkaline pH around 7.9.