First rule: tea is made of tea. Period. Other hot beverages based on leaves of vegetation different from the Tea Bush (Thea sinensis) are not tea. However, hot water and tea leaves do not necessary make good tea. The ways of wasting the precious leaves are amazingly plentiful and widespread. In America, for instance, making bad tea seems to be a matter of patriotism since the infamous incident in Boston.
Second rule: forget those paperbags. They are filled with the dust swept from the floor at tea factories. The bags give the tea an unmistakable flavor of cellulose. In Russia, we call it "the postman's tea", because it comes in envelopes.
Third rule: never cook the tea leaves. The first contact of the tea leaves with water should happen right after the boiling of the latter. Neither before, nor long after. If you cook the tea leaves, you will obtain a liquid almost, but not entirely, unlike tea, fit for leather tanning, rather than drinking.
If you adhere to the above rules, you make tea. Not necessarily good tea, but real tea, nevertheless. These rules are universal, there's nothing Russian so far. What makes all the difference, is the so-called "zavarka", the tea concentrate. The Russian process of tea-making is a two stage one; First, you make the zavarka, then water it down with hot, boiled water ("kipyatok" in Russian).
At this point, it is worth noting that it's the process sketched in section How to make it that makes the tea Russian. The origin of the tea leaves does not matter, whether they are from Georgia (a member state of the former Soviet Union, located in the Caucasus range on the shore of the Black Sea; home to the largest tea plantations in the Russian Empire and the S. U.) or from Ceylon (Sri Lanka, a former British colony, an island south of India). Nor do the utensils involved in the process of making or consumption. If hot water is poured onto tea bags from a samovar the result is still "postman's tea" which has little to do with Mother Russia. In my experience, fake Russian tea parties like this gained some popularity in certain circles. Don't let them fool you. Zavarka is what matters. It's that simple.
Prior to any further action, you should boil a fair amount of water. You will need kipyatok at various stages of the process, and you will inevitably spill some of it during your first attempt. Actually, the more you fear spilling a liquid, the more likely it is that you will, because you are too cautious. Don't hesitate -- be resolute, but pay attention, as hot water is dangerous and carelessness may result in serious injuries.
Boiled water is the only water used in the process of tea making. The Russian language actually makes a clear distinction between "boiled water" and "raw water". The latter is often misinterpreted by non-native speakers as wet water (as opposed to dry water?), which is funny. Although these substances are very similar, they behave very differently under certain circumstances for some mysterious reason. Even a minute quantity of raw water, no matter how hot, can spoil the tea. Therefore, keep the water boiling for a while in order to make sure that it is boiled thoroughly.
The basic steps of zavarka preparation are as follows:
Never drink the zavarka undiluted. It has a strong narcotic effect, causing intense heartbeat, hallucinations and restlessness. This effect has been widely used by captives in Russian prisons and forced labor camps, since tea has always been included into the rations of the prisoners. The name of tea-based narcotics in the Russian criminal slang is "chephyr". If you introduce Russian tea-drinking into some non-Russian company, don't forget to label the zavarka pot! Otherwise, ignorant people might drink its content, and die of a heart attack as a consequence. You, in turn, may face lawsuits or vendetta depending on the culture you live in.
Now, you are ready to make your first cup of Russian tea. Pour some zavarka into a teacup and dilute it with kipyatok. The ratio is approximately 10:1, though it may change as your deadlines approach. Actually, the strength of the tea depends both on this ratio and the strength of the zavarka. Given the brand, the strength can be inferred from the color.
The color of the tea should be similar to that of a chestnut. If your glass, cup, or mug has vertical walls (constant horizontal cross-section, that is), you can control the color very easily. Observe that the color of the tea does not change if you look from above, assuming the water is completely transparent (the proof of this statement is left as an exercise to the reader). Therefore, all you have to do is pour zavarka until it reaches the desired color, and water it down thereafter. Cups with increasing horizontal cross-sections do not offer such an easy method, you will either have to solve an integral equation or make an educated guess.
Lastly, I would like to draw your attention to a very important detail. Many of the steps in the Russian method of tea preparation are time consuming and might appear superfluous at first glance. Good tea, however, takes patience and commitment; all shortcuts degrade the final product. Don't hurry, take your time. As the wise Russian proverb goes: "If you rush, you just make people laugh."