by Arshness » Feb 8th, '13, 15:11
AdamMY,
Well, I usually drink tea cold in the summer. I only started drinking proper loose-leaf tea recently, so I haven't had a summer with good tea yet. Southern tea is usually just brewed like coffee (sometimes even in a coffee machine) and filled with sugar until it counters the bitters and then we add it to a full glass of ice and sometimes add a wedge of lemon, or squeeze lemon into it for flavor. That's Southern tea.
I'll drink Southern tea occasionally, but don't prefer it. To be frank, I'd rather have a Coke. (In the South, all sodas are called "a coke". You can say to a waiter, "Give me a coke." and they'll ask, "What kind?" because you could mean Dr. Pepper or Mountain Dew as easily as you could mean Coca-cola. It's just a funny slang around here.)
As of now, I'm enjoying coffee-like teas in the morning for breakfast and before breakfast. That is, I'm enjoying hazelnut and Aquarius tea which is based on hazelnut, and both have a rather "coffee-like" smell to me. I like the taste far better however! I suppose I should say I'm enjoying lattes for breakfast. I like my hazelnut or Aquarius tea with a bit of creamer and sugar. I also like my Masala chai that way.
I'll drink a warm cup of chamomile or Earl grey as the day goes on. I prefer some Chamomile before bed. I don't tend to add cream to Earl Grey or Chamomile. They are better without, in my opinion. Just a little teaspoon or two of sugar for those.
Interestingly, as I started drinking tea, I was using about 2-3 Tablespoons of sugar for a 16 ounce cup because I was used to doing so with store-bought bagged tea and it was undrinkably bland without sufficient sweetening. I don't normally like things too sweet. What is very interesting is that as I've begun drinking loose leaf tea or as I'm calling it "REAL tea", I'm enjoying less and less sugar in my cup. I've already reduced to 1-2 TEAspoons depending on the variety. Right now I have a cup of warm chamomile and I think the 2 less-than-level teaspoons I used were a touch too much. I think 1 teaspoon for chamomile is just right for me. I'll be trying that for the next cup.
To better answer your question, (and with apology for the tangents) I believe this Summer I will be steeping white, green and herbal varieties and refridgerating them for cold tea all day. I don't think I should enjoy hot tea when it is 90+ outside with 80%+ humidity! Perhaps for a breakfast tea, but I think throughout the day, I shall prefer a cold glass of iced tea.
I may make sun-tea and ice it as an idea.
I have just ordered raspberry green, decaf blueberry and wild strawberry herbal. I imagine that these blends would work well for Summertime iced-tea varieties. But I suppose I'll see.
especially with the right ... instruments. 
