Peach Iced Tea with Honey and Fresh Thyme

Late-summer peaches — the ones that have been sitting in the sun long enough to go soft at the shoulder, the ones that drip when you bite into them — make the finest iced tea you will ever drink. The thyme is the element that turns this from pleasant to memorable: floral, slightly resinous, it lifts the sweetness of the peach in a way that mint simply doesn't manage. Make this in August while the peaches are genuinely extraordinary. It will not taste the same in September.

Serves 6–8   ·   20 minutes active, plus 2 hours chilling

INGREDIENTS

• — For the peach honey syrup —

• 3 large ripe peaches, pitted and roughly chopped (skin on)

• 100g (⅓ cup) honey

• 120ml (½ cup) water

• 4–5 sprigs fresh thyme

• — For the tea —

• 4 bags good black tea — Darjeeling, Ceylon, or a lightly smoky Assam

• 1 litre (4 cups) water, just boiled

• 500ml (2 cups) cold water

• Juice of 1 lemon

• Ice, to serve

• Thin peach slices and fresh thyme sprigs, to garnish

METHOD

1.  Make the peach honey syrup: combine the peaches, honey, water, and thyme in a small saucepan. Bring to a gentle simmer, stirring to dissolve the honey, then cook for 8–10 minutes until the peaches are completely soft and have released all their juice. Remove from heat and steep for 10 minutes.

2.  Strain through a fine-mesh sieve, pressing firmly on the solids to extract every drop of the deeply colored, fragrant syrup. Discard the solids and thyme.

3.  Steep the tea bags in the just-boiled water for exactly 4 minutes — longer and the tea becomes bitter and tannic, which will compete with the peach. Remove the bags without squeezing.

4.  Combine the brewed tea, cold water, peach honey syrup, and lemon juice in a large pitcher. Stir, taste, and adjust with more lemon or a little extra honey as needed.

5.  Refrigerate until thoroughly cold, at least 2 hours. Serve over plenty of ice in tall glasses, garnished with a thin slice of fresh peach and a sprig of thyme.