I made my first batch of iced tea, Seven Summits with organic strawberries. When it comes to iced tea my rule about adding stuff to tea goes out the window. This tea was pretty simple, just tea, strawberries and sugar. The Seven Summits is a Formosan Oolong from Teavana which is pretty much a middle of the road Tung Ting with a good flowery aroma. I think that a stronger Oolong wouldn't have gone well in a fruited iced tea because you would need more sugar to counter any bitter and loose the flavor of the fruit.
To make it I put 4 or so tablespoons of tea in a top hat strainer, put the strainer in a pitcher and poured the water over the tea into the pitcher. I let it brew for longer than usual (5 minutes or so) throwing the cut strawberries underneath the strainer at about the 3rd minute. I took everything out and put in 4 teaspoons of sugar. I rebrewed the tea in another pot and poured that in to top off the pitcher rather than topping it off with water. The result is concentrated by itself and meant to be drunk over ice.
My favorite tea to ice is Snow Buds with honey and some berries. More of a woodsy flavor than a sweet flavor. I prefer blackberries (and honey) because it omits the need for sugar, which is a tea deal-breaker for me!
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