Tea Geek writes:

[...]
1) In Chinese-culture societies (so as to cover both political
descriptions of Taiwan), all teas are brewed with boiling or near
boiling water. But instead of stewing them for as long as us
Westerners do, they'll brew for MUCH shorter periods of time. I do
have personal experience that this works, and you can too. Take, say,
your favorite Yinzhen/Silver Needles white tea and measure out
identical quantities. Brew one at 175 degrees (F) for 3-4 minutes,
and brew one in a full boil water for 15-20 *seconds*. Taste them
side by side. They will probably taste quite different, but neither
will be unpleasant.

There's a lot of truth in this, but I sure wouldn't subject a delicate
green tea to boiling water even for a very short steep. Silver Needle
can probably take this treatment because:

- in a first steep of 15-20 seconds the thick buds barely get
hydrated;

- in subsequent steeps the buds start out saturated with tepid water,
so after you pour on the boiling water the resulting temperature the
tea steeps at will be well short of boiling.

/Lew
---
Lew Perin /
http://www.panix.com/~perin/babelcarp.html