Purified water, such as that manufactured by reverse osmosis and ozonation, is an excellent solvent and highly corrosive to metals. The ancient Chinese learned this when they used the water collected from rain and snow to brew tea, and developed the much needed non-metallic utensils, now commonly known as "china", for the purpose of preparing tea drinks. Historically, white celadon porcelain or copper kettles were used to boil the water for tea brewing in China. To this date, most traditional tea houses in China still use copper kettles to boil water. Recent scientific research has confirmed that the copper ions in water are not detrimental to the tea antioxidants as ferric or ferrous ions are. Therefore, one should use kettles made of copper, high-grade stainless steel, nickel-plated metal alloys, polypropylene plastic, lead-free porcelain or glass to boil water, and never store any leftover boiled water in a kettle made of metal alloys containing iron elements. Boiled purified water leftover in a stainless steel kettle overnight, if re-used, may contain enough extracted iron metal to ruin the taste of the green tea and reduce its health benefits.

For the convenience of our customers, we are offering an electric corded mini water kettle  made of polypropylene plastic with a copper sheathed nickel plated heating element. This mini kettle is good for boiling a two-steeper volume of water (about 800 ml), and is manufactured by BODUM^® (Schweiz) AG.

One may boil the water in a microwave oven for tea brewing, but should not put dry tea leaves in the water being heated in the microwave oven to avoid “overcooking” of the tea leaves.

Why do many tea experts advise steeping green tea for no more than 3 minutes and Dr. Lee's TeaForHealth^® needs 15 to 20 minutes steeping time?  Read on!