Description
This peach oolong refresher combines sweet peach syrup, oolong tea, and tangy Meyer lemon juice, plus a splash of sparkling water. It’s the perfect drink for a hot summer afternoon!
Ingredients
Scale
Peach Syrup
- 425 g (15 oz) chopped yellow peaches (about 3 large peaches)
- 90 g (1/2 cup) water
- 170 g honey or 150 g granulated cane sugar
- 1/4 tsp ground vanilla or vanilla paste
- 1/4 tsp kosher salt
Other Ingredients
- 562 g (2 ½ cups) hot water at 190°F
- 20 g loose-leaf ruby oolong tea
- 128 g (1/2 cup or 4.6 oz) Meyer lemon juice (about 5 Meyer lemons)
- Gerolsteiner, sparkling water, club soda, etc.
Instructions
- Prep the peaches. Halve the peaches, remove the pit, slice the peach wedges, and then chop into cubes. The smaller the cubes, the faster the peaches will caramelize and cook down.
- Make the peach syrup. Add the chopped peaches to a large pot, along with the honey, water, vanilla, and salt. Place the pot on the stove over medium-high heat and bring to a boil. Once boiling, reduce the heat to medium-low, and let the peaches cook at a gentle simmer, stirring occasionally. Once the peaches have softened (about 6 minutes), mash them with a potato masher or similar. Let the syrup continue to cook for another 5-6 minutes (keep the heat on medium-low). The goal here is to caramelize the peaches and concentrate the syrup. Strain over a pitcher using a fine mesh sieve (you’ll need to force the syrup through the sieve with a spatula) and set aside.
- Brew the oolong and mix the concentrate. Brew the oolong tea in the hot water for 5 minutes, then strain into a bowl or pitcher – you should have around 2 cups of brewed tea. Pour the tea and lemon juice into the pitcher with the peach syrup and stir well. Taste and adjust for sweetness – add more honey or cane sugar if needed. Pour the concentrate into a large jar with a lid and refrigerate to cool.
- Serve. To serve, pour 2 parts peach oolong concentrate over ice, followed by 1 part sparkling water — a serving is 2/3 cup concentrate and 1/3 cup sparkling water. Gerolsteiner is my go-to for sparkling water.
Notes
This concentrate yields 4 cups, which is about 5-6 servings.