Summer time is a great opportunity to get the recommended daily healthy intake of 3-4 cups of tea per day, by making refreshing iced tea at home. Any category of loose tea can be made into iced tea, whether it is a black Indian Assam, to a Chinese green or white tea--and of course herbal tea (tisanes) also make great iced teas. Personal flavor choice and preference should be the driver of what type of tea you choose to use for preparing your iced tea.
Some tea friends I know love to make iced tea with TeaMoka's British Blue Mountain Earl Grey, whereas I typically prefer to use a green or white tea. "To each his own"--especially when it comes to tea! As far as how much loose tea to use when making iced tea actually depends on the process you are using to steep your tea. In general, you want to use enough tea to make it concentrated (i.e. more than what you would use when steeping hot tea), because you will then add ice which will dilute the liquid. If you are steeping tea on the stove, you can bring a little bit of fresh cold water(about a cup) to a boil (for a black tea), add 2-3 teaspoons of loose tea, and then steep for about 5 minutes. Once this liquid cools, add fresh cold water, and then pour over ice to make several glasses of fresh tea.
If, on the other hand, you use an automatic tea brewer like I'm currently using, then you simply fill the inner container with fresh cold water, add ice to the pitcher, then add about 2 tablespoons of loose tea in the top of the brewer and press start. Tea brewers make it so fast and easy to prepare iced tea and then you can just place the pitcher in the refrigerator and enjoy tea all day long.
The way I grew up of making "sun tea", where you place a jar of tap water and tea bags out on your deck and let the summer sun heat the tea, is now being frowned upon as a way of making iced tea due to the chance of bacteria growing in the jar (because the water is never brought up to a boil or near boil). Somehow I survived childhood enjoying tea this way, but I have to admit that making tea in an automatic brewer is so much easier and faster...and I guess there is extra piece of mind knowing that it's bacteria-free!
To me, iced tea is just one of those few simple little pleasures of life that I enjoy so much. So the most important thing to remember is to just savor your tea this summer--any way you like it!
