In the Mood / Tea Drinks

The classic cool-down with some glamorous new variations:

* Seattle’s Best Coffee: This small coffeehouse chain offers an iced chai latte--that is, a traditional Indian-spiced black tea with milk. It also offers regular iced tea and a refreshing black mint tea. All of the other teas for sale, including herbal varieties, can be brewed and iced to order. (Iced tea, $1.05; iced chai latte, $2.50-$3.20.) Seattle’s Best Coffee, 12222 Wilshire Blvd., (310) 442-1031; 1015 Montana Ave., (310) 451-8095; 9475 Little Santa Monica Blvd., Beverly Hills, (310) 275-2053; 12265 Ventura Blvd., Studio City, (818) 761-8085, other locations. (Pricing may vary by location.)

* Chado: Caffeine-free fruit teas from Paris called tisanes have become quite popular here. Flavors include an all-fruit tea with hibiscus, raisin and pineapple; peach Melba, cherry, fruit-raspberry, apple mango, mango flip and strawberry kiwi. Or try the “refreshment herb tea” made of spearmint and peppermint leaves. Chado stocks some 250 different teas from around the world, any of which can be brewed and iced to order. (Tisanes and herb teas, $1.75; brewed-to-order iced tea with two refills, $2.75.) Chado Tea Room, 8422 1/2 W. 3rd St., Los Angeles, (213) 655-2056; Chado Tea Shop in Farmer’s Market, 6333 W. 3rd St., Los Angeles, (213) 937-4758.

* Bangluck Market and Sanamluang Cafe: Thai iced tea, the milky-sweet cold beverage spiced with star anise, is available in most Southeast Asian restaurants, but we’re fond of it at the Sanamluang Cafe, where it’s astonishingly sweet and made with half and half rather than sweetened condensed milk. If you’re thirsty for a glass of this elixir without wanting the accompanying meal, make your own at home from a mix you can buy next door to the Sanamluang at the Bangluck Market. (Thai iced tea, $1.35; Thai tea mix, $2.79 a pound.) Bangluck Market and Sanamluang Cafe, Bangluck Plaza, 5170-76 Hollywood Blvd., Hollywood. Market (213) 660-8000; cafe (213) 660-8006.

* Urth Caffe: Urth offers a rotating selection of iced teas, all of which are brewed from imported teas. There’s the “Royal Breakfast” tea, Urth’s own version of English Breakfast tea, and such fruit-scented black teas as gooseberry, apricot and blackberry. The caffeine-free herbal tea selection includes Urth’s all-fruit tea, chamomile, “Flowers-and-Fennel,” “Peaceful Mind” and “Lavender Lemonade.” Also available iced is “Divine Spice,” a spiced herbal tea with milk and honey. (Iced teas, $1.50; iced “Divine Spice,” $2.75-$3.25.) Urth Caffe, 8565 W. Melrose, West Hollywood, (310) 659-0628.

* Elixir: At this new shop, they prefer to call their teas “tonics” and say they are blended to energize, revitalize and stimulate natural health. Elixir’s version of a classic black tea is enhanced with ginseng and schizandra, an herb with a pleasantly tart flavor. Iced tea can also be made from any of two dozen the whole-leaf reserve teas. Other tonics (which you can choose to drink chilled) include the self-explanatory Bluesbuster,” the “Virtual Buddha” for centering and balance, and “The Silk Thread,” an herbal formula said to ease PMS. (Iced tonics $1.50-$5.50). Elixir, 8612 W. Melrose Ave., West Hollywood, (310) 657-9300.

* Lipton Tea House: This tea house offers 51 tea selections, ranging from black and green teas to specialty and herbal teas. For iced tea, there’s always a traditional blend on hand, with or without caffeine. Or you can try one of the fruit-based tea drinks like the spritzer, fruit tea with carbonated water; a smoothie, ice blended with fruit; and fruit tea, strawberry, tropical, raspberry mango and peach. Tea spiced with cinnamon, cardamom and nutmeg is brewed and served with milk over ice or blended with ice. (Iced teas from $1.25-$2.25). Lipton Tea House, 124 E. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena, (626) 568-8787.