How to make peach iced tea with canned peaches

This peach tea recipe is essential for summer entertaining. It’s so simple to make but is a great way to impress your guests with a flavored drink and makes a great everyday alternative to water.

Disclosure: This blog post contains affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate and member of other affiliate programs, Keri Houchin earns a commission from qualifying purchases at no additional cost to you.

This post was originally published in 2016; it has been updated in 2022 for clarity.

Peach tea is a fantastic summer drink with lots of flavor. It makes a great alternative to alcohol and soda at get-togethers but is also simple enough that you won’t feel bad drinking a pitcher of it by yourself on a hot afternoon.

I started to call this recipe southern peach tea, but if I’m being honest, it isn’t really that southern. Here in Texas, everyone I know makes their tea with a heaping helping of sugar.

I know I’ll ruffle a few feathers here, but I just don’t like my tea that sweet. If you do, no worries. You can always add more sugar to sweeten this up.

This is an easy recipe and you could throw it together just a few minutes before your party guests arrive. It really sings when you make it the day before, though. If you have time to make it ahead and let it chill in the refrigerator for a day, the peaches will let out even more flavor.

Homemade iced tea tips

Iced tea is one of those recipes that’s easy to change up to suit your tastes. In fact, if you asked everyone you know, they’d probably all prefer their tea slightly differently. Here are a few tips to help you out:

• Check your packaged tea to make sure you have the right ratio of tea bags to water – but you can make it weaker or stronger if you like.
• Black tea has caffeine, but you can make this recipe decaf by using a different blend, such as green tea.
• You can use fresh or frozen peaches and use a different sweetener. The finished tea just won’t have that familiar syrupy flavor.
• If you’re using a glass pitcher, it’s important to not pour hot tea into the pitcher and add ice cubes at the same time. The sudden change in temperature can cause the pitcher to crack.
• Is your finished tea bitter? That’s usually caused by leaving the tea bags to steep for too long.

How to make peach tea

This makes about one quart of tea and is easy to double or triple for a crowd.

Ingredients

• 1 15.25-ounce can of sliced peaches in heavy syrup
• 4 individual black tea bags
• 2-3 cups water
• ice, as desired

Instructions

1. Measure the syrup.

Open the canned peaches and pour out the syrup into a measuring cup. Add enough water so that the total volume of the liquid is 32 ounces.

2. Cut the peaches.

Take about half of the sliced peaches and dice them smaller. I cut each one into 4.

Store the other half of the canned peaches for another recipe.

3. Simmer the mixture.

Pour the liquid into a small saucepan on the stove and add the peaches. Heat over low heat until simmering – no need to boil. Turn off the heat and add the 4 tea bags.

Let the tea steep for 5-7 minutes and remove the bags.

4. Cool and serve.

Allow the tea to cool. You can add ice cubes to the pot to speed the process along. Pour the cooled tea into a pitcher. Refrigerate the tea until ready to serve.

Serve over ice. You can pour the peach slices into each glass or just leave them in the pitcher.

Printable recipe

Prep Time 10 minutes

Cook Time 5 minutes

Total Time 15 minutes

Ingredients

• 1 15.25-ounce can of sliced peaches in heavy syrup
• 4 individual black tea bags
• 2-3 cups water
• ice, as desired

Instructions

1. Measure the syrup.
   Open the canned peaches and pour out the syrup into a measuring cup. Add enough water so that the total volume of the liquid is 32 ounces.
2. Cut the peaches.
   Take about half of the sliced peaches and dice them smaller. I cut each one into 4. Store the other half of the canned peaches for another recipe.
3. Simmer the mixture.
   Pour the liquid into a small saucepan on the stove and add the peaches. Heat over low heat until simmering - no need to boil. Turn off the heat and add the 4 tea bags. Let the tea steep for 5-7 minutes and remove the bags.
4. Cool and serve.
   Allow the tea to cool. You can add ice cubes to the pot to speed the process along. Pour the cooled tea into a pitcher. Refrigerate the tea until ready to serve. Serve over ice. You can pour the peach slices into each glass or just leave them in the pitcher.

Check out some other fun and creative ideas on One Mama’s Daily Drama:

• Honey Stardust Earl Grey Latte Recipe
• Peach Fruit Crisp Recipe
• Peach Cobbler Muffins