Coldbrew Peach Iced Tea

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup granulated sugar (I used organic unrefined cane sugar, raw or turbinado sugar would be great too!)
• 1 large ripe peach
• 6 ounces of black tea (more or less to taste)

Directions:

1. To make sugar syrup, combine sugar with 1/2 cup filtered water in a small saucepan.
2. Cut peach in half, twisting to remove the pit.
3. Coarsely chop.
4. Place entire chopped peach, pit and all, into saucepan with sugar and water.
5. Bring to a simmer over medium heat, stirring until sugar is dissolved.
6. Let simmer for 5 minutes, smashing the peaches a bit with the back of the spoon to extract more of the peach flavor.
7. Remove from heat, cover and let sit for about 30 minutes (you can also chill the syrup with the peaches overnight for a stronger peach flavor).
8. Strain through a fine mesh sieve into a glass jar or bottle, pressing out all the syrup from the remaining peach solids.
9. You should have about 1 cup of syrup, which will keep in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.
10. For cold brew tea, fill a 2-quart glass pitcher or two 1-quart lidded glass bottles with a total of 8 cups of filtered water.
11. Submerge black tea leaves fully in pitcher.
12. Cover and refrigerate for at least 12 hours or overnight until desired flavor is achieved.
13. If it will be refrigerated for longer than 12 hours, remove the tea leaves after 12 hours or so to prevent the tea from getting bitter.
14. To serve, pour 1 cup (8 ounces) of cold brewed tea into an ice-filled glass.
15. Stir in about 1 tablespoon of peach syrup (more or less to taste).
16. You can also mix 1 cup of syrup into the full 8 cups of tea and serve it pre-sweetened if you prefer.