It’s officially Summer and — Yikes! — it’s hot hot hot! Of course, many of you are going for that iced tea to keep cool, especially with your Fourth of July cookouts, but some of us diehards stick with hot tea. Either way you work it, there are some great options to keep your inner tea drinker very satisfied!

1 A tea that’s great hot or cold: Monk’s Blend Flavored Black Tea

No vows of silence here! You’ll be singing the praises of this tea to all you meet. A very popular tea, full of flavor due to a dramatic combination of vanilla and grenadine. Naturally flavored black tea (a high-grown Ceylon tea from estates at more than 5,500 feet above sea level). My experience with it chilled. The natural sweetness means you don’t have to add sugar or other sweeteners. For me that’s a real plus. My review of it served hot. This flavored tea is also great (in fact, I think it’s better) with a dash of milk and sweetener. Dessert in a cup!

2 Stay cool blue with Blue Q! Try their Blue Q Tea Merci Lemon Ginger rooibos

A sweet, red South African Rooibos tisane with a kick of lemon and ginger. It’s sure to refresh, whether served hot or over ice. The bracing lemon mixing with the unique flavors of ginger and rooibos to give you a truly different taste sensation. Definitely not your granny’s powdered iced tea!

3 Speaking of Granny, try some of this: Granny Green Apple Tea

A deliciously refreshing apple-flavored green tea! This all natural fruity flavor is perfect for any time of day. So whether you’re sitting on your front porch in the cool of the morning or the quiet of the evening enjoying this tea hot or taking a break during the midday heat with a glass of this tea chilled, you’re sure to enjoy it!

4 A tea that is well known in Britain and getting better known here in U.S.: PG Tips

A popular British blend of the finest Assam, Ceylon and Kenyan teas, PG Tips produces a rich and refreshing flavor. PG Tips is blended and packaged in the UK. It has a similar taste to the English Tea Store brand English Breakfast Tea. They feature pyramid-shaped tea bags, which allow more room for tea to infuse and produce a better flavor and a free flow of water through the webbed fibers. The Freeflow Pyramid bags result in fast brewing and a superior taste. Stop by the English Tea Blog to learn more. Faired well in my comparison of four black tea brands served cold. Some sweetener was needed, but not too much.

5 Another version of the ever-popular Earl Grey: Versailles Lavender Earl Grey Tea

This flavored tea is created from a luxury black tea and natural dried lavender and dates back to the reign of King Louis XIV of France. His fondness for lavender is paired with the very British taste of Earl Grey with its distinctive oil of bergamot flavoring. Floral and citrus in royal harmony. The tea was no doubt inspirational in the king’s dedication to the task of reconstructing Versailles. Steep in water that has been brought to a rolling boil for 2-5 minutes. Then sip in that luxurious flavor.

See more of A.C. Cargill’s articles here.

© Online Stores, Inc., and The English Tea Store Blog, 2009-2014. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this article’s author and/or the blog’s owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Online Stores, Inc., and The English Tea Store Blog with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.