> wrote in message

> I don't have the right kind
> of thermometer, but I imagine it wouldn't be hard to find- pretty much
> a candy thermometer from the grocery store, right?

That's not adapted. The candy thermometer is accurate in a range of temps
your water will never reach.
A small, cheap, LCD cooking thermometer is OK.

> 1)boil water,

I don't let it boil.

>then watch a thermometer until it cools to the right
> temp

If you brew the same sort of tea regularly, you don't need to use a
thermometer each time.

I measured at what temp my kettle starts to make a zzzzz noise. The next
times, I know it's about *** degrees without measuring. For my kettle,
half-filled, in this season, it's about 90 degrees.
For green tea, I get water from the drip machine. I measured it once, it's
70 degrees.

> 4)boil water then mix it with cold water.

I do that too when I want a different temp than 70 ot 90 degrees. The first
time, I measure the temp to decide what volume of hot water and what volume
of cold water.
Another trick is to pour from the kettle into a jar, then from that jar into
the pot. That lowers the temperature of a few degrees.

> 5)something I haven't thought of yet.

My microvawe heats precisely the water at the required temp.

Kuri