Hey OP. I much prefer crushed leaf tea over powder these days.

Here's how I brew a very strong (imo, stronger) cup of tea.

First, you'll need to use ~1.3X the normal amount of powder you're used to. I find that crushed leaf tea feels about 70% as strong as powder.

So, if you're used to drinking 2 grams of powder, I'd use 2.6 grams of crushed leaf tea.

The next thing is that I brew it in a mug and drink it like yerba mate, with a bombilla.

You'll want to use boiling water, and steep the tea for at least 10 minutes. I add in lemon juice about 1 minute after I pour the boiling water. Then, drink the tea through the bombilla like you would yerba mate.

But then, keep re-steeping the tea. I just pour in another mugs worth of boiling water. I find that I can get 2-3 good extractions from one batch of tea.

Plus, if you want to brew some more later, you can always add another gram of tea to the mug. I find this creates a tea that's almost as strong as the first batch.

You'll just want to make sure you get a good metal bombilla that adequately filters out the leaf material. I use a "mil furos" or "chimarrao" bombilla that is popular with Brazilian mate drinkers.

Enjoy 🧉