There’s a difference between the tea cooling after brewing, and the tea cooling while brewing. The latter has some impact on the flavor profile, though whether that is an issue depends on one’s taste buds and tea variety. I grew up with the idea that tea should always be brewed with water fresh off a roiling boil, and held to temperature as long as possible (usually in a thick pottery teapot), but the modern wisdom seems to be that many teas should be brewed cooler (I’ve heard as low as 150F for green tea), in which case starting at boil and letting cool for 4 minutes while steeping might be better than the conventional wisdom.
