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I was luck to find this post on Chowhound, who summed up the Cook's Illustrated method:

"Put 4 cups of water in med saucepan. Add three tea bags, turn the heat to medium. When bubbles form on the edge of the saucepan, pour the solution into your pitcher. Discard the bags. Stir in 1/2 to 3/4 cups sugar. Add two quarts cold water, stir. Serve over ice. You never want to use boiling water or squeeze the teabags."

It works perfectly every time, and I also agree with Cook's Illustrated that Lipton makes better iced tea than Luzianne. I wasn't expecting that, but I've tried both and while I don't dislike Luzianne, something about Lipton is better. I typically buy the family size bags whenever they are available.

Sometimes I'll have simply syrup in the fridge, or if I'm really lucky, I'll have mint syrup, which obviously replaces the sugar. I'm no longer a fan of lemon in iced tea.

http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/306412#1725343

I use a mixture of teabags. Luzianne, lipton lemon (Bigelow's, Trader Joe's, Celestial Seasonings, loose tea, pampered chef...) and simple syrup. Make your simple syrup first. Put it aside. You can add your lemon to it.
We also use Sugar Shots to add to it.
I boil my water, then I turn it off stick the tea bags in it, add the sugar and or simple syrup and give it a stir and let it get to room temp. It is very strong. I have to add some water and or some ice to thin it out a bit.
If you add your lemon juice when its cool it will be less bitter.

everyone who said to let it cool to room temp is correct! if you put your tea in the fridge while its hot or even warm, it will get cloudy. make up some simple syrup and keep that in the fridge and sweeten by the serving, I hate presweetened tea, I love to flavor my syrup with star anise (lightly)
or even ginger. Good luck! ;-)

wow, I've made lots of iced tea and never noticed a problem - - must be luck. Usually use Lipton tea, but have used other brands. Lately, I've been putting 4 bags in the CARAFE of my 12 cup coffee maker, fill it with tap water and turn it on. When it's done "brewing" I turn off the coffee maker, let it sit for about 3 minutes, remove the bags, cool a bit, pour into my pitcher (plastic, usually) and refrigerate. Hmmm. Gonna try Chowhound's method and see if I can taste a difference. I drink my tea unsweatened, but like a piece of lime (or lemon) in the glass added. Sometimes in summer I'll substitute one bag of "regular" tea for one of the fruit flavoured varities for a refreshing twist.

I use the quart size bags of Luzianne. I fill my 2 quart pitcher with hot tap water (my heater is on scald!) and add 2 bags. I let it sit on the counter for a few hours and then refrigerate. I also prefer Sweet and Low and add it by the glass. The pitcher never lasts longer than a day or so around here so I dont even bother to remove the bags, a travesty, I know.

I also just prefer an ice cold glass, completely unsweetened when I just need something other than water but dont want crystal light or anything like that.

i believe you need to have your water boiling when you want a clear ice tea or hot tea for that matter....

I use Community Coffee teabags, but I have used regular supermarket brands with no problem.

Heat 3 cups of water until the edges just start to bubble, then take pan off heat. Submerge 4 large teabags in the hot pan of water. Let steep for 5 minutes, then gently remove teabags, being sure not to squeeze liquid out of them. Stir in your desired type and quantity of sweetener, then pour into pitcher. Top with cold water until pitcher is full. Let stand until tea is cool to the touch before placing into refrigerator. I always use water cold from the faucet, as there is less chance of minerals leached from the hot water tank.

I have never had cloudy tea. People always rave about my tea. I always make a gallon at a time. I put a few cups of water in a saucepan with 2/3 cup of sugar. When it boils (and the sugar has dissolved), I take it off the heat and add 9-11 tea bags (depends on the tea...Luzianne or Salada are my favs, but I've used Tetley and Lipton in a pinch). After 15 minutes and not more than 30 minutes, I squeeze the teabags into the tea, add it to a gallon pitcher, squeeze in one lemon, then throw the lemon in, fill the pitcher with cold water, stir and serve or refrigerate. Sometimes I'll add a sprig of mint to the glass with a slice of lemon. I have also squeezed an orange in with the lemon and added that too. They look pretty in a glass pitcher. Perfect tea everytime, Adjust sugar to your preference.

Wow! You guys have a wealth of information. I intend to conduct experiments the likes of which you see on Alton Brown or Ted Allen's show. I will invite my iced tea-drinking friends who are also brewing impaired. I will report back on our progress. With the amount of tea we will be drinking, it's likely that our post may show up in the middle of the night due to our caffeine overdose. But, aaah..feel the buzz! Thanks so very much :-))

I'm new here, but I needed to post! The secret to good ice tea has befuddled me as well. Similar to the OP, I've tried many different methods and have had difficulty with both cloudiness and bitterness.

There's something I need to ask for clarification on, as it occurred to me after reading gourmetgal's post where she pointed out the issue of refrigeration. I don't have a problem with cloudy iced tea that has been freshly made. It is once refrigerated that my tea goes murky. A lot of you mentioned that you never have problems with cloudy tea and go on to describe opposing methods (squeezing tea bags vs. not squeezing, boiling, long-term steeping, etc). The thing is, for those of you who didn't mention it already, are you refrigerating your iced tea or do you use it up immediately?

Thanks for any help you can provide. I'm near to giving up, as I can't take another batch of bitter tea (the cloudiness is just insult to injury). I'm going to try the combination of no boil with the other tips (no squeeze and quick steep, which I've tried before). I've done cold brew once, it was less cloudy but I need to work on the water/tea ratio and time brewed.