Fresh Peach Iced Tea

Before you start

Bottled peach tea relies on flavoring. This version gets its peach character from ripe fruit simmered briefly into a syrup, skins and all, which gives the tea a blush color and a jammy, floral taste that tastes like summer instead of candy. The tea underneath is a straightforward black tea, brewed strong and short so it stays brisk enough to stand up to the fruit.

Ripeness is the main decision. Fragrant, slightly soft peaches give the most flavor; hard supermarket fruit makes a thin, sour syrup. The syrup is cooked only enough to soften the fruit, then left to steep off the heat so the fresh aroma is kept rather than boiled away.

Ingredients

• Fresh peach syrup2 large (about 400 g) ripe yellow peaches — pitted and sliced, skins on
• 100 g (½ cup) granulated sugar
• 120 ml (½ cup) water
• 10 ml (2 tsp) fresh lemon juice
• Tea8 g (4 bags or 3 tsp loose) black tea — Ceylon or English breakfast
• 500 ml (2 cups) water, just boiled
• 500 ml (2 cups) cold water
• To serve1 peach ripe peach, thinly sliced
• as needed ice cubes

Method

1. Combine the sliced peaches, sugar and 120 ml water in the saucepan. Bring to a simmer over medium heat and cook for 8 to 10 minutes, until the slices are very soft.
2. Mash the fruit lightly in the pan, stir in the lemon juice and take it off the heat. Let it steep for 20 minutes so the syrup picks up more fruit and color.
3. Meanwhile, pour 500 ml of water just off the boil (about 95°C / 203°F) over the tea and steep for 4 minutes. Remove the bags or strain out the leaves.
4. Pour the hot tea into the pitcher and add 500 ml cold water. Leave it to cool while the syrup steeps.
5. Strain the peach syrup through a fine strainer, pressing gently on the fruit. You should get about 200 ml of rosy syrup. Save the cooked fruit for yogurt or toast.
6. Stir the syrup into the tea, taste, and add a squeeze of lemon if it seems flat. Refrigerate until cool, about 30 minutes.
7. Fill tall glasses with ice and fresh peach slices, then pour the tea over them.

Tips for success

• Smell the peaches before buying. Fruit that smells strongly of peach at the stem will flavor the tea; scentless fruit will not.
• Leaving the skins on gives the tea its pink-gold color. Peel them only if they are fuzzy and bitter.
• Keep the tea steep short. Peach is delicate, and an over-extracted, tannic tea hides it.
• Make extra syrup during peach season and freeze it in small portions for winter batches.

Substitutions

Fresh yellow peaches

White peaches give a paler, more floral tea. Frozen sliced peaches work well out of season; use the same weight and cook 2 minutes longer.

Black tea

Green tea or oolong make a lighter, more fragrant peach tea. Brew green tea at about 80°C (176°F) for 3 minutes so it stays sweet.

Granulated sugar

Honey or light brown sugar both work. Brown sugar adds a caramel note that suits very ripe fruit.

Variations

Sparkling peach tea

Make the tea with 250 ml water instead of 500 ml cold water and top each glass with chilled soda water.

Peach basil tea

Add 4 basil leaves to the hot syrup with the lemon juice and strain them out with the fruit.

Peach tea lemonade

Mix equal parts peach tea and lemonade over ice.

Troubleshooting

The peach flavor is faint

The fruit was underripe or the syrup was diluted too far. Add more syrup, a few drops of lemon to sharpen it, and choose softer, fragrant peaches next time.

The tea tastes bitter

The tea steeped too long or too hot. Keep it to 4 minutes and do not squeeze the bags.

The syrup is cloudy and pulpy

It was pressed too hard through the strainer. That is harmless; for a clearer tea, let the syrup drip without pressing.

Storage

Refrigerate the finished tea and drink it within 2 days. The strained peach syrup keeps in a covered jar in the fridge for about 1 week, or frozen for 3 months. Discard syrup that smells fermented, fizzes or shows mold.