Peach and spiced rum iced tea

ingredients

• Peach and spiced rum iced tea

  • 1 cup (250ml) dark underproof rum
  • 2 cinnamon sticks
  • 8 cloves
  • 6 medium lemons (840g), halved widthways
  • 4 large firm peaches (880g), quartered
  • 6 black tea bags
  • 1 cup (200g) caster (superfine) sugar
  • 1.5 litre (6 cups) boiling water
  • 1/2 cup loosely packed fresh mint leaves
  • 2 cup ice cubes

method

• Peach and spiced rum iced tea

  • 1

    Place rum, cinnamon and cloves in a clean screw-top jar; shake well to combine. Set aside in a cool, dark place for 3 days, shaking the jar once a day.

  • 2

    On the day of serving, cook lemons, cut-side down, on a heated chargrill plate (or barbecue) for 2 minutes or until caramelised. Cook peaches on chargrill plate for 1 minute each side or until slightly charred. Cool.

  • 3

    Place tea bags, sugar and the water in a large heatproof jug, stir to dissolve sugar; leave to steep for 5 minutes. Discard tea bags. Cool tea mixture to room temperature.

  • 4

    Pour tea mixture into a serving jug. Squeeze juice from chargrilled lemons into tea mixture, then add lemon halves. Add rum mixture, chargrilled peaches, mint and ice.

notes

If you don’t use the rum straight away, strain it after 3 days and reserve the infused rum and the spices to garnish. You could also buy spiced rum to save time. The peaches will stick to the grill a little, but the caramelisation from charring them adds to the flavour of the drink.