Sydney weather is confusing to understand initially. It starts the day off in summer, blazing hot. So you prep for a hot hotter day. At approximately 3 pm or a bit later, clouds roll in and it pours or hails. It often feels like the weather cannot make up its mind. Finally, if it stays hot for 3 days, we are all warned about the incoming bushfire. As the weather does its drama, there is enough reason to keep some chilled drinks to get through the hot middays.
One of my favourites to make is the peach iced tea. This is because peaches are plenty during this season and also I love those fuzzy yellow-fleshed peaches. There are some other reasons you might like to make this peach iced tea.
Why would you like this recipe?
- Real ingredients: the infused peaches with actual tea make a much tastier recipe than a bunch of sweeteners and fragrances mixed. So use the real ingredients to make this version of peach iced tea.
- Stay away from packaged drinks: as the heat peaks we all reach for readily available drinks. Keeping home real fruit drinks is so much better through this season.
- Customise the sugar: when you make peach iced tea at home, you can control a huge bit of the added sugar. You can make it with stevia or monkfruit too to make it sugar-free.
- Keeps for a week: the peach iced tea keeps well for up to a week, so even on the busiest day you have a worthwhile drink.
What types of tea are good for peach iced tea?
Black tea varieties like Assam or Ceylon are preferred to make this brew. However, you can also use Darjeeling tea or Nilgiri tea blend to make this tea. I prefer to use rolled tea leaves to brew than use tea dust. If you prefer a lighter tea you can use green tea or white tea to make a more peach-flavoured drink.
Should I cold brew the tea?
When you brew the tea in hot water and make the peach iced tea, it turns a bit cloudy. This does not affect the flavour. However, this cloudy colour is avoided if you are doing a cold brew the drink is much like a clear liquid. However, it takes a bit more planning and soaking for up to 6 hours or overnight. The flavour of the cold brew turns bitter if kept for long. Today, I have opted to make a regular warm brew.
Ingredients for this tea.
Tea: black tea leaves are what I have used for this recipe. This creates a deep orange infusion that is perfect for this tea. Brew the tea for about 3 minutes for a non-bitter concoction.
Peaches: the yellow or white-fleshed peaches are both good in this case. Use ripe peaches but not too soft.
Sweetener: I have used stevia as a sweetener. You can use maple syrup, agave or simply sugar in this case.
Water and ice: for the tea infusion and being a drink water is essential. Being an iced tea, icecubes are best of used.
Variations
Peach ice tea can easily be made with small variations in flavour. One of the easiest flavours that you can add is fresh herbs. Now popular herb to be added is mint, but it is a bit too strong for the gentle flavours of the peach. However, rosemary or thyme flavours work well with this peach tea. The lemon rind or orange rind also adds a lovely freshness to the tea.
Once the peach iced tea is made, you can top it up to vary the strength. This you can do with cold water or sparkling water. Sparkling water adds a mocktail feel to your drink. If kept for longer, the sparkling water may not be ideal.
Let’s make peach iced tea
- Get the peaches ready: the gentle-skinned peaches are pretty easy to prep. Wash the ripe peaches and slice them as wedges, using the speed in the centre as your guide. Save a few slices to add to the completed tea and chop up the rest of the peach slices. You can puree these too if you prefer.
- Prepare the infusion: for the best flavour, here is how I prepare the infusion. Add the chopped peaches to the water and slowly boil it. To this add the desired tea in a tea strainer (or teabags). Once the tea has infused for up to 3 minutes your tea infusion is ready.
- Ready to drink: mix in the desired sweetness and strain the tea. Add sparkling water if preferred or if the tea infusion is strong. Place ice and a couple of slices of peaches in a glass and pour the tea. The tea is now ready to be served.
Peach iced tea
Equipment
- kettle
Ingredients
- 2 tsp black tea leaves
- 5 cups drinking water
- 2 peaches
- stevia or maple syrup
Instructions
- WAsh and slice the peaches.
- Set aside a few slices to add to the tea when made.
- Chop up the rest of the peaches and add to water.
- Bring the water to a boil with the peach slices for about 5 minutes.
- Add the tea leaves ( or tea bags) and bring to a 3 minute boil.
- Remove and strain the tea and set aside to cool.
- Add peach slices and ice to the glasses to serve tea.
- Stir in the sweetner into the tea.
- Pour the tea over the ice and enjoy.
Summer drinks from our blog
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Stay connected
Sunshine or hail don’t miss to pick up some extra peaches in season to enjoy this soothing peach iced tea brew. If you make this recipe, don’t miss to share your thoughts in the comments with your ratings. We will highly appreciate it if you stay subscribed.
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I can’t wait to make this in the summer and enjoy in the sunshine.
Delicious tea! Love the peach flavor in it!
With spring being around the corner. This is so needed right now. Thank you for sharing this refreshing drink.
this was so refresing. I will definitely be making it again.
We love peach tea, and this fabulous, homemade version is going to be made often in my house.