The Rice Noodle Salad with Spicy Peanut Sauce recipe I just made had an Asian flare, so I thought I would keep up the theme. When I happened on this Trà Dào (Vietnamese Peach Tea) I knew it would be the perfect followup. It’s summertime, and it’s hot here! With the temperature in the high 90s and the heat index over 100, I need a tall cool iced tea or two in the afternoon. Adding fresh peaches to that sweet, refreshing drink sounds like a plan. Let’s find out how good of a plan!
This lightly sweet Vietnamese Peach Tea is made with real peaches for a perfectly refreshing summer drink!
The Ingredients
This Vietnamese peach tea recipe has only 4 ingredients, and I had 2. I had to buy fresh peaches and tea since all I had on hand was herbal and Earl Grey. The notes say Earl Grey and breakfast blend will change the flavor, and I keep to the recipe on the first try.
My local grocery store had what I needed. I bought 4 peaches to be on the safe side since they bruise so easily. A box of tea was the second item on my list, but when I got home I discovered I grabbed a box of breakfast blend by mistake. I swear I reached for plain black tea! I’m not even sure what a breakfast blend tastes like… Wanders off to the kitchen to make a cup…
Not to worry, my mother-in-law had me covered. Hubby stopped by to visit his parents and she sent him home with a few teabags for me. What a peach! 😂
The Process
I started off making my Vietnamese Peach Tea by boiling a pot of water for the peaches. It helps loosen the skin for peeling. There are no instructions on how to peel the peaches, but this is how I did it:
- Boil a pot of water deep enough to submerge the peaches.
- Make a shallow “X” in the bottom of the peaches with a paring knife.
- Submerge the peaches in the boiling water for 30 to 60 seconds.
- Immediately transfer the peaches to an ice water bath.
- Peel the peaches with your fingers; use a paring knife to remove any small bits that remain.
- Pit and slice as needed.
While I waited for the water to boil, I heated another 2 cups for the tea and steeped it for 5 minutes. Once the tea was steeping, I measured another 2 cups of water and added ice to chill it. I strained out the ice before adding it to the tea later on—the ice was just to chill it.
The peaches peeled easily, and I sliced the fruit off the pits for the syrup. Making that was a matter of simmering them with some sugar in a small pan. Most syrups also need water, but not this one. The peaches released plenty of moisture as they warmed, so no extra water was needed.
I initially used the same amount of sugar listed in the recipe (2 tablespoons). A quick taste told me it wasn’t quite sweet enough, so I stirred in more sugar 1 tablespoon at a time. It was to my taste at 4 tablespoons or 1/4 cup total.
I also made a second batch with 1/4 cup of sugar to use up the last 2 peaches and make sure the amount was on point. That batch could have used a touch more sugar. I’m betting it all depends on how sweet the peaches happen to be, so be prepared to adjust each batch a little.
When the peach syrup was finished, all I had to do was mix it with the brewed tea and ice water in a 50-ounce pitcher. Then I let the mixture chill for a few hours before giving it a try.
Timing
This recipe lists 20 minutes to prep and 5 minutes to cook, for a total time of 25 minutes. My first try at this recipe went a little over that at 34 minutes total. I imagine the slowdown was peeling and slicing the peaches. I haven’t done it in a while and I guess I’m out of practice.
 was sweet, refreshing peach tea perfection! It was sweet, refreshing, and so good on a hot summer day.){kind=link}