You should brew your tea for 4 minutes for a medium-strength tea, and 5 minutes for a strong tea. Do not brew longer than this, or the tea will become bitter.

Microwaving your tea is never recommended. Putting your water in the microwave will turn the water flat. Also, it is not recommended to microwave your tea to brew, nor reheat.

There is no taboo on using tap water to brew tea. However, the better the quality of the water, the better the results of your tea. It is recommended to use either filtered or bottled water when making tea.

Yes! You can self-decaffeinate any tea of your choosing. Tea from the Camellia sinensis plant does not immediately start releasing actual flavor until approximately 1 minute into the brewing process. Instead, it first starts releasing the caffeine. Follow these steps to self-decaffeinate your tea:

NOTE: Brew more hot water for this process than you would normally.
1) Measure out your tea as usual and add hot water (you do not have to fill the cup/pot all the way, only enough to cover the tea completely)
2) Allow the tea to steep for approximately 45-seconds
3) Toss out all water, but retain the tea in the cup/pot
4) Add fresh hot water, to the desired drinking amount and start your brew timer from the beginning
5) Once brewing is complete, serve as usual

All tea that comes from the Camellia sinensis plant is naturally caffeinated. Teas from the Camellia sinensis plant are any and all black, green, or white teas.

Decaffeinated teas are teas from the Camellia sinensis plant that have either gone through a chemical process to remove the caffeine, or have been self-decaffeinated in the brewing process. Through either of these methods, only 85% of the caffeine has been removed from the tea, and trace amounts remain.

Caffeine-free means that the plants used in brewing do not naturally contain any caffeine. Rooibois tea and herbal infusions fall in this category.

If you are highly sensitive to caffeine, it is recommended to stick to the caffeine free teas. If you are mildly or moderately sensitive, any decaffeinated (or self-decaffeinated) tea should be acceptable.