40 PULSE

NEW YORK POST

Sunday, August 4, 2013

table hopping
Gabi Porter (8); Model: Andrea/Bella

tea
The quintessential summer quencher is getting a refreshing revamp. hether you love lychees or lemons, W theres a cool brew to suit your fancy
ByAMy THOMAS

Fit to a

cOOl ANd clASSIc

The house iced tea ($2.50) at the rustic Lower East Side restaurant Preserve24 is as close to a classic as youll nd albeit it elegantly updated. It strikes the perfect balance of black tea with a fruit y n-

Christian Johnston

ish, says manager Matt Boms of the Weavers black mango tea, selected for the naturalsweetness that comes from the fruit and additional oral notes from marigold petals. If you dont have time to sit at the restaurant, grab it to go from the takeout window. Preserve24 177 E.
Houston St., 646-8376100
Tamara Beckwith/NY Post (2)

fOr jAvA juNkIeS

We wanted to create our own denition of gourmet tea, explains George Kuan, coowner of the West Villages new Press Tea, which opened in late May. The family-run business sources teas from plantations around the world and uses espressolike machines to press them,

exOTIc eSSeNce

Along with more than a dozen traditional high tea options, Midtown restaurant The Lambs Club features an iced option: Iced Th du Hammam Rooibos ($6). The smooth blend, created by the French tea production company Le Palais des Ths which partner Margaret Zakarian chose for the restaurantstea program features exoticnotes from the Orient such as orange oil, vanilla and rose. Its one of our best-selling teas, Zakarian says. Toensure the drink retains its avor,therestaurant serves it over four large ice cubes also made with the bracing yet mellow tea.
The lambs club

instead of steeping, for a fuller avor. Customize your drink, or opt for a house specialty like fan favorite Mont Blanc Wild Himalayan ($4). The secret to this drink isnt just the fullbodied, chocolaty avor of the tea, shaken with ice cubes, butthe house-made Mont Blanc crme added on top. The sweet-salty dairy mixture rst oats like beer foam but gradually sinks. Press Tea 167 Seventh
Ave. South, 646-678-3909

If yOu lIke PIA cOlAdAS . .. fOr leMON lOverS

There are few things more refreshing than lemon tea, and Union Squarenewcomer The Fourth, inside the new Hyatt Union Square hotel, serves a lovely glass. Their French Verveine tea ($4) reinforces Harney & Sons tea with lemon verbena from the nearby Union Square Greenmarket, which are slow brewed to draw out clean avors. A splash of peppermint syrup lends a refreshing herbal note, and a wedge of lemon nishes it off. As owner Jo-Ann Makovitzky points out, the tea is light and lemony perfect for summer. The fourth 132 FourthAve.,
212-432-1324

132 W. 44th St., 212-997-5262

fOr freSH fruIT fANATIcS

Traditional Thai tea is strong and black, but Hong Thaimee, chef-owner of Thai comfort food restaurant Ngam in the East Village, muddles seasonal fruits currently, fresh strawberries and mixes them with the tea imported from Thailand for her Fruity Thai Iced Tea ($5). Served in a steml ess goblet and garnished with lychees, its sweet, juicy and fabulously fruity. Ngam 99ThirdAve.,
212-777-8424

With more than 150 loose-leaf teas to explore from white to green, oolong to rooibos DavidsTea has no shortage of iced options, although some are more summery than others. Take the Tropicalia ($4.50) for exa mple,one of the shops ve limitededition summer blends. An herbal mix of apple, candied pineapple, coconut, safower blossoms and sugar hearts, its tropical notes are re miniscent of a pia colada. But even more refreshing, the tea is mixed with crisp carbonated water for an effervescent drink on the go. davidsTea 1124ThirdAve., 212-717-1116
(plus three other locations)