Peach Iced Tea
Cold-brewed tea, white peach and mint - the drink to make a jug of.
Photo: Peach iced tea with orange slices by Baoothersks · CC BY-SA 4.0 · All credits
Ingredients
- 120 ml Measuring jug A measuring jug: pour to the 120 ml line. Iced tea - Cold-brewed if you can - it is smoother and never bitter
- 40 ml Jigger One small side (25 ml) of a standard jigger, plus a tablespoon. Peach purée
- 10 ml Spoons Two teaspoons. Lemon juice
- 10 ml Spoons Two teaspoons. Simple syrup - Leave it out if your peaches are ripe ones
- 1 slice Peach (optional)
- 1 sprig Mint sprig (optional)
Measured in Millilitres (UK). Sign in to read these in American measures. Print a kitchen card at this size.
What the jigger, the spoons and the jug hold, in millilitres and in fluid ounces, is on the measures reference.
Quick version
- Shake the tea, peach, lemon and syrup with ice and strain over fresh ice.
Method
- For cold-brewed tea, put four tea bags in a litre of cold water and leave it in the fridge overnight.
- Shake the tea, peach purée, lemon juice and syrup with ice for 10 seconds.
- Strain over fresh ice in a highball glass.
- Add a slice of peach and a sprig of mint, and serve it with a long spoon.
Serve it
Peach Iced Tea
The version of this that comes in a can is one of the sweetest drinks on any shelf, and the version you make at home is not remotely the same thing. Real tea, ripe peaches and a squeeze of lemon, over a great deal of ice, is a genuinely good long drink - and it is the one to make in a jug when there are people coming over, because it scales better than anything else here.
Getting it right
Cold-brew the tea. Hot-brewed tea that has been chilled tastes stewed, and the bitterness in it fights the peach; tea left in cold water overnight is rounder and needs no sugar at all. The purée should be sieved if it came from a blender, or the drink will need chewing. Build it in a jug with the peach slices in it and let it sit for twenty minutes before you serve it - the fruit keeps giving.
Tasting notes
Soft peach and clean tea, with the lemon brightening the finish and the mint cooling it. It is the most summery drink in the book, and the only one that improves in a jug.