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I'm french Canadian so we tend to drink an inordanate
amount of tea.

In the past and still today in the woods tea was/is in leaf form and was directly placed into the kettle and
let steep.

The water was always started cold boiled then the tea leaves were added to the kettle to let steep.

The steaping tea was almost always on the stove near the back to keep warm but not warm enough to realy heat the tea.

These days it''s a mix of tea bags (mmmm teatley) and leaf style tea making.

Some who do not like thier tea strong will simply use the tea leaves/bag in the cup and pour hot water on it method. However to be honest your in the woods to relax and enjoy a "GOOD" cup of tea so letting it steep is always a pleasure.

In the old days when prospectors and trapers didn't have or ran out of tea. They used the indigeonous Labrador Tea. It does taste like teatley tea with a hint of spruce tree gum. It was/is a very oily tea and takes quite a long time to steep.

Thanks for the chat.