After you get your pine needles cut up, you can go ahead and add them to your simmering pot of water. I typically use 3-4 cups of water. I want to make enough for several mugs of tea throughout the day.
How much you need depends on your tastes, but I’d say somewhere between 2 and 4 tablespoons of chopped pine needles makes a good cup of pine needle tea. While you can leave them whole, chopping them up a bit increases surface area and will help extract more flavor.
I like my tea a bit stronger, so I opt for around 4 tablespoons of chopped pine needles (1/4 cup) per cup of tea. Experiment a bit and see what you like.
Cover your pot and remove it from the heat. You never want to boil your pine needle tea as this tends to break down the Vitamin C. It also releases bitter tasting terpenes. If you want stronger tea, simply add more needles.