When we returned home from foraging, and it was time to actually make the tea, I did a little experiment and tried making the lemonade-like sun tea, with regular tap water as well as steeping some in boiling water. I read that the hot water makes the tea too bitter, but I needed to know for sure. So I made 4 quarts in the sun and 1 quart with boiling water. The boiled version was a little bitter, but if you iced it, or added a little water, the bitterness subsided and it had a much more gorgeous red intense color. I ended up mixing them all together, which is actually what I'd recommend if you decide to make it yourself.

I put 3 drupes in a two quart jar and filled with room temperature water.

I filled the 1 quart jars with one drupe each.

I topped two more with room temperature tap water and set them in a sunny window for several hours.

Finally, I poured boiling water over one 1 quart jar with one drupe. You can really see the color difference.

When it was ready (which is subjective) I strained them all into a large pitcher with a very fine mesh and mixed them all.

Then I served with ice in blue, green and clear ball jars and brought them to a picnic. Delish.