To insure a really good “cup of tea” the kettle must be filled with _fresh_ water—if distilled the better—and boiled for about three minutes; there will be a sparkle about tea made with fresh-boiled water that it cannot receive from flat, hot water, which has been boiled long or repeatedly. For moderate strength it requires one heaping teaspoonful of good tea to each half-pint of boiling water or an ordinary tea-cup half-full to a quart of water will make a sufficiently strong infusion for five persons. No metal vessel, not even one of silver, is fit to make tea in, nothing being better adapted for the purpose than the old-fashioned tea-pot of heavy, glazed, brown earthenware, covered with a tea-cosy—a tufted cushion, cap-shaped, which envelopes the tea-pot, keeping the tea warm and the aroma from escaping. This vessel must be first “scalded” and set on the range to dry and keep hot, after which the tea is put in and allowed to heat for a few minutes before the boiling water is poured on the leaves, and the infusion allowed to draw or “brew” from five to ten minutes according to the variety of tea under treatment. India and Ceylon teas are usually “drawn” in five minutes, longer infusion, owing to their great excess of tannin, making them still more bitter and astringent than they naturally are under ordinary conditions. The addition of extra quantities of milk and sugar, however, greatly modifies their great strength, sharp pungency and pronounced flavor. China Green and Japan teas require from six to eight minutes to “draw” thoroughly, while China Oolongs are best at from eight to ten. China Congous yielding lower percentages of tannin than most other varieties, the time allowed should be longer than ten minutes if a full yield of their best properties should be desired. They will also be found more suitable to temperaments to which teas containing larger quantities of tannin are found injurious or objectionable. China teas in general do not require much milk or sugar, while Japans are more pleasing and palatable without the addition of either.