Summer has landed in full force in Texas, and it feels like there isn’t a way to escape the smoldering heat. Well, maybe just a few – the bracing blast of air conditioning at shops and restaurants, the refreshing splash after a dive in the pool, and the sparkly tingle of a sip of freshly brewed tea.

I have some memories of drinking tea as a girl in the Midwest, the occasional glass jar brewing sun tea on the porch. However, we were more likely to be mixing a packet of Kool-Aid with a full cup of sugar, or diluting Country Time Lemonade or Tang into a pitcher of water.

So, it took moving to Texas to understand tea as a cultural phenomenon, especially sweet tea (which, inexplicably in light of my sweet tooth, I have never developed a taste for). I took a shining to it right away, and there are still few things I love more than a glass of tea morning, noon or night. Years ago we were on safari in Africa, and ten days in I’d had all manner of drinks, but no iced tea. I can still remember my delight when a tray of sharp, fresh iced tea with a slice of orange appeared as we were checking into a lodge at the Victoria Falls.

I’ve been in iced tea heaven since we started carrying the premium French teas from the legendary Mariage Frères. We’ve got the most special naturally blue tea from Mariage, as well as three of their special iced tea blends in decadent glass bottles. I think the blue tea is as pretty to look at as it is delicious to drink, and the iced teas are a delightful twist on traditional black teas.