Another summertime cocktail. As we go through the summer, you see all the lovely things at the Farmer’s Market and local peaches are ripe. I bought a few, but then didn’t get around to eating them, so they were almost too soft for anything besides pie or making smoothies. So I made a puree, and thus this iced tea. Note that with the amount of puree and honey simple syrup that this makes, it would be just enough to make an entire pitcher (I only made a glass-full for the photo — and because I couldn’t exactly drink an entire pitcher or spiked iced tea myself.
Ingredients
3 parts vodka
2 parts peach puree (you will need 2 peaches, plus more to garnish)
2 parts honey tea simple syrup (see below)
sparkling water to top
ice
for the honey tea simply syrup
1 cup water
6 tea bags or 4 tablespoons loose tea — choose your favorite
(I used Teavana Honeybush Vanilla but any tea that you like will do)
1/2 cup honey
Directions
On stove top, heat water to boiling in a saucepan. Remove from heat, add tea bags or loose tea and infuse for 10 minutes. Remove tea bags or strain loose tea through a fine mesh sieve. Return saucepan to stove top and bring to a slow boil. Add in honey, stirring constantly until it is completely dissolved, about 1-2 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool. Simple syrup can be stored in a sealed glass container and refrigerated for up to 1 month.
To make the peach puree, you will need to remove the skins from 2 of the peaches, reserving the third. Cut an “X” in the bottom of each one, and place them in a pot of boiling water for about 30 seconds. Transfer the peaches to an ice bath, and peel when cool enough to handle. Slice each peeled peach in half and remove the pits. Cut peaches into cubes, place them in the blender or food processor, and puree until liquefied.
In rocks glass (or if you are serving for a crowd, in a large pitcher), combine the pureed peaches, the cooled simple syrup, the sparkling water and the vodka. Stir to combine. Add ice and stir again. Maintain the ratios listed, but you can change the volumes, meaning if you are making one drink, use 3 shots vodka, 2 shots peach puree and 2 shots of the honey tea simple syrup. If you are making a pitcher, use 1/2 cups vodka, 1 cup peach puree and the full cup of honey tea simple syrup.
Cut the remaining peach into thin slices to add to the pitcher or to garnish the glasses.
