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Southern Peach Tea

Southern peach tea with a deeply golden, Southern-sweet iced tea base infused with fresh peach syrup. Black tea is steeped hot, sweetened while warm, then chilled until cold and served over plenty of ice.
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Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 12 minutes
chilling 2 hours
Total Time 2 hours 27 minutes
Servings: 8 servings
Course: Drink
Cuisine: American
Calories: 250
Ingredients Equipment Method Notes

Ingredients
  

Southern peach tea base
  • 6 family-size black tea bags
  • 4 cup boiling water
  • 4 cup cold water
  • 1.5 cup granulated sugar for the sweet tea
Peach syrup
  • 4 ripe peaches peeled and diced
  • 0.5 cup sugar for peach syrup
  • 0.5 cup water for peach syrup
Serving
  • 1 Ice
  • 1 peach slices
  • 1 lemon wedge for serving

Equipment

  • 1 Dutch oven

Method
 

Brew and sweeten the tea
  1. Steep the family-size black tea bags in 4 cups boiling water for 5-7 minutes, then remove the bags. Look for the tea to turn deeply golden as it steeps.
  2. Stir in the granulated sugar while the tea is still hot until fully dissolved. Keep stirring until the sugar is no longer grainy on the surface.
  3. Add the cold water to the sweetened tea and cool to room temperature. The color should look lighter and ready to chill.
Make the peach syrup
  1. Simmer the ripe peaches, sugar, and water in a Dutch oven for 12 minutes. Watch for the mixture to thicken slightly and become syrupy.
  2. Strain the peach syrup and cool it. The syrup should look smooth and glossy before combining.
Combine, chill, and serve
  1. Stir the peach syrup into the sweet tea to taste. The drink should take on a fruity amber-gold hue.
  2. Refrigerate the peach sweet tea until cold for 2 hours. It should be thoroughly chilled before serving.
  3. Serve in mason jars filled with plenty of ice, topped with peach slices and a lemon wedge. The condensation should form heavily on the outside of the jars.

Notes

Pro tip: dissolve sugar while the tea is hot to avoid any graininess, then cool to room temperature before chilling. Store covered in the refrigerator up to 4 days; the flavors deepen as it sits. Freezing is not recommended because the tea and peach syrup can change texture when thawed. For a lighter option, reduce the sweet-tea sugar by 1/2 cup and add more peach syrup to keep the peach-forward taste.