There are many different ways of brewing tea, depending on circumstance. Chinese traditionally drink tea before of after a meal but it may be drunk at any time of day or night. A drinker commonly brews tea by first dropping a bit of dry tea leaves into a cup and then filling one-third full with hot, boiled water. The drinker refills the cup before starting to drink. People often say that the tea water smells and tastes the best after the third water infusion, so tea drinkers brew their tea twice or even three times.

The following steps constitute a more formal manner of brewing tea in a form that is considered art. This procedure is mostly applicable to black tea or Wulong tea.

a. Boil water.
b. Wash the teapot with hot water.
c. Fill the teapot with tea leaves one third full.
d. Wash the tea leaves by filling the pot with hot water half full and draining the water immediately, leaving the tea leaves behind.
e. Pour more hot water into the teapot and then pour water over the teapot in a large bowl. The infusion should not be soaked for too long and 30 seconds are an appropriate maximum.
f. Pour the first infusion into small serving cups within a minute by continuously moving the teapot around over the cups. Each cup of tea is expected to have the same flavour, aroma and colour.

It is possible to draw five or six good infusions from a single pot of tea, but subsequent infusions must be extended somewhat to extract maximum flavour. This art of brewing and drinking tea is appreciated by many people, including non-Chinese. They enjoy not only the taste, but also the artful process of brewing it.

This article by Yang Tianqing and Daniel Kister.