Cool off and quench your thirst with this homemade healthy Peach Rooibos Iced Tea! It’s easy to make, so refreshing and perfect to sip on all day. Brew a big batch of this caffeine-free iced tea for the best summer drink that can be served up sweetened or unsweetened! {Gluten-free, dairy-free & vegan}
Rooibos Iced Tea – Healthy & Refreshing!
If you’re an iced tea fan looking for a healthy and delicious caffeine-free iced tea recipe to refresh your tastebuds without keeping you up all night, I’ve got you covered with this Peach Rooibos Iced Tea!
Flavourful rooibos tea is steeped in hot water and combined with fresh peaches and mint for one delicious beverage. It’s the perfect way to cool off on a hot summer day and you can serve it up unsweetened or sweetened, depending on your taste preferences.
A great alternative to iced coffee or cold energy drinks, this homemade peach iced tea couldn’t be easier to make and is always so refreshing!
The best part is, after you’re all finished, you can eat the peach slices floating at the bottom of your drink. Who doesn’t love a drink and snack all rolled into one?
If you’re looking for more fruity drinks, you won’t want to miss out on my favourite Strawberry Basil Mocktail or this Starbucks Passion Tango Tea Recipe!
Why We Love This Decaf Iced Tea Recipe
- Make-ahead: With just 5 ingredients, this fruity drink is great to make ahead of time and sip on all week. Amazing for a hot day!
- Caffeine-free: Of course, we all love a cup of coffee or tea in the morning, but don’t always want to be buzzing on caffeine. This decaf iced tea is the perfect way to satisfy your hankering for sweet tea without worrying that you won’t be able to sleep.
- Easily adaptable: The beauty of this recipe is that you can serve it up unsweetened or sweetened. It’s refreshing both ways!
- Perfect for a crowd: Always a crowd-pleaser, this recipe can always be doubled or tripled and stored in a pitcher. Perfect for entertaining!
Ingredient Notes
- Fresh Peaches: Fresh peaches are simmered down to create a better-for-you simple syrup. Choose fresh, ripe and juicy peaches for the perfect iced tea
- Water: Hot water is used to steep the tea, while the cold water is used to help create the syrup for the ultimate refreshing drink.
- Rooibos Tea: Used for the base of the cold tea. Rooibos tea is naturally sweet and slightly nutty for tons of flavour with zero caffeine.
- Optional Sweetener: Not required but really tasty, coconut sugar or honey can be included to imitate your favourite sweet peach iced tea. If you prefer a sugar-free iced tea recipe, then skip the added sweeteners for less sugar.
How to Make Peach Iced Tea – Step by Step Instructions
1. Prepare Peach Syrup
- Boil the peaches and water in a medium saucepan, and let the mixture simmer for 15-20 minutes, pressing on the peaches to break them up.
- Remove the saucepan from the heat, and let the peaches cool for about 15 minutes.
- Transfer the peach mixture to a fine-mesh sieve, and press with a spatula to squeeze out as much juice as possible.
- Pour the strained syrup into a bowl, and refrigerate until chilled.
2. Make Rooibos Tea
- In the same saucepan, boil the water. Let the rooibos tea steep for 5 minutes.
- Remove the tea bags, and let the tea cool. Then, refrigerate it for 3-4 hours or until it is thoroughly chilled.
3. Assemble Iced Tea
- Next, pour the syrup into a large pitcher with the tea, and mix in the coconut sugar or honey to add a kick of extra sweetness.
- Add in fresh peach slices and sprigs of mint, and chill the pitcher of iced tea for at least 30 minutes.
4. Garnish & Serve!
- Pour the peach tea into glasses with ice, and flavour with additional sugar, peaches, and mint as desired.
Expert Tip: Don’t throw away the leftover peach pulp after straining the peaches. This can be added to smoothies, overnight oats, yogurt or served over ice cream!
Keep scrolling for the full printable healthy iced tea recipe!
Tips for the Best Iced Tea
- If you like your tea stronger or weaker: Use more or less tea bags. However, don’t let the tea bags brew for more than 5 minutes or the tea will have a bitter taste.
- Adapt sweetness to taste: This is not an overly sweet iced tea recipe. If you prefer a sweeter tea, add 2-4 tablespoons, or desired amount of sweetener, to taste. I’ve tried it with coconut sugar, monk fruit sweetener and honey, but you can also use maple syrup, regular white sugar, brown sugar or stevia, if desired.
- If you prefer to use loose-leaf tea: You can use a tea strainer ball or make a little cloth parcel to steep the tea. You’ll need about 3 teaspoons of loose tea leaves.
- For a stronger minty flavour: Add the mint leaves to the hot water with the tea bags. Remove the leaves once the tea has brewed. You can also infuse the mint longer in the pitcher as well.
- Use the right pitcher: If pouring the hot water directly into a glass pitcher, be careful to use a heat-proof jug. Thin glass jugs can explode if boiling water is added to them.
- For less watery iced tea: I recommend adding the ice to individual glasses so you don’t water down the entire batch of peach iced tea.
How to Store
Once combined, this rooibos iced tea can be kept in the fridge for up to 2 days. Any longer than that, and the mint will begin to wilt.
For a longer-lasting option, prepare all of the components separately, and keep them in the fridge for up to 1 week. Then, when you’re ready to serve, mix them all together, and enjoy.
Is there Caffeine in Iced Tea?
The amount of caffeine in iced tea can vary depending on a few different factors including the number of tea bags used, the amount of water and ice added, the quality and type of tea, in addition to the steeping time.
The average cup of black iced tea has around 50 mg of caffeine for a one cup serving. To put it into perspective, according to the FDA, the current recommendation is to try and limit your caffeine consumption to no more than 400 mg per day (source).
Is Rooibos Tea Caffeine Free?
The good news is that rooibos tea is an herbal tea and therefore has no caffeine, so if you’re looking to cut back on your caffeine intake, this decaf iced tea is the way to go!
Additionally, unlike green and black tea, it also contains no tannins, which can have a bitter taste, so it’s also a great option for unsweetened iced tea.
Recipe FAQs
I don’t find that it’s necessary to remove the skin. By leaving the skin on, it provides some additional colour to the tea and also helps reduce waste.
Studies have shown that consuming unsweetened tea can help boost your consumption of antioxidants, improve hydration, and may also be associated with a reduced risk of premature death, heart disease, stroke, and type 2 diabetes (source). When combined with fresh peaches, it can be an incredibly nutrient-rich drink with many health benefits. Just be sure to monitor how much sugar you add, as overly sugary drinks are one of the biggest contributors to health problems such as obesity and diabetes.
No, due to the low caffeine content of tea, the diuretic effect is very minimal. This means that consuming tea can actually help you stay hydrated.
Yes, iced tea should be stored no longer than a week. You’ll know it’s gone bad when it starts to turn colour and have a slightly acidic smell similar to wine.
If you’re pouring the hot tea directly into the pitcher, then a heat-proof jug should be used to prevent the glass from potentially exploding when exposed to the hot liquid. If you cool the tea before adding to the jug, then any pitcher you like will work well for this homemade iced tea. Just make sure that it’s big enough to hold all of the ingredients!
Serving Suggestions
This peach rooibos iced tea is perfect for serving at tea parties, baby showers, and summer gatherings as a light and refreshing beverage.
Try pairing it with any of these crowd-pleasing options:
- Healthy Cranberry Walnut Chicken Salad
- Healthy Peach Crisp with Oats
- Worcestershire Sauce Burgers
- Mango Chicken Salad
- Zucchini Turkey Burgers
- Grilled BBQ Chicken Thighs
- Vegan Falafel Wrap
Recipe Ideas & Variations
- To make unsweetened iced tea: If you’re watching your sugar intake, leave out the coconut sugar or honey.
- For vanilla iced tea: Use vanilla rooibos tea bags.
- Use loose leaf tea: Use 3 teaspoons of loose-leaf rooibos tea to replace the 3 tea bags.
- Switch up the fruit: Try mango instead of peach or sub in other desired fresh fruit.
- Switch up the tea: Instead of rooibos try regular or decaffeinated green tea.
- For some extra zing: Add a bit of lemon juice.
- Make it fizzy: Add a bit of sparkling water for a carbonated twist.
More Healthy Drinks
- Cucumber Lemon Mint Water
- Honey Almond Milk Cold Brew
- Watermelon Cucumber Drink
- Apple Spiced Tea
- Turmeric Latte with Almond Milk
Did you make this recipe? Scroll down to leave a star rating and review!
Caffeine-Free Peach Rooibos Iced Tea {with Unsweetened Option}
Ingredients
- 1 pound fresh peaches (about 3 large peaches)
- 1/2 cup cold water
- 4 cups water boiled
- 3 bags rooibos tea
- 2-4 tablespoons coconut sugar or honey or sub in other desired sweetener (optional)
For serving
- Fresh peach slices
- Fresh mint leaves
- Ice cubes
Instructions
Make the peach syrup:
- Add the sliced peaches and cold water to a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil, and then allow to simmer on low for 15-20 minutes, pressing on the peaches with a potato masher or wooden spoon every once in a while to break them up. Let the peaches cool and infuse for about 15 minutes.
- Next, transfer the mashed peach mixture to a fine mesh strainer and press with a spatula to get out as much of the syrupy juice as possible. Pressing too firmly on the peaches will cause the syrup to be cloudy.
- Pour the peach syrup into a jar or bowl and refrigerate until chilled (or up to a week).
Brew the tea:
- Meanwhile, in a small saucepan, boil the water and add the tea bags. Allow the tea bags to brew for 5 minutes. You can brew the tea in the same saucepan that you boil the water in, or boil the water in a kettle and then brew the tea in mason jars or a heat proof pitcher.
- Remove the tea bags, let the tea cool, and then refrigerate until thoroughly chilled, about 3-4 hours.
To serve:
- Combine the chilled peach syrup and brewed tea in a pitcher. Stir in the coconut sugar or honey until well distributed. Add fresh peach slices and fresh mint leaves to the pitcher. Allow to chill for at least 30 minutes to infuse extra flavour.
- Pour over glasses of ice. Alternatively, you can pour the chilled brewed tea into glasses of ice, then let each person add peach syrup to taste. Add some extra peach slices and fresh mint to each glass for serving.
Notes
- If you like your tea stronger or weaker: Use more or less tea bags. However, don’t let the tea bags brew for more than 5 minutes or the tea will have a bitter taste.
- Adapt sweetness to taste: This is not an overly sweet iced tea recipe. If you prefer a sweeter tea, add 2-4 tablespoons, or desired amount of sweetener, to taste. I’ve tried it with coconut sugar, monk fruit sweetener and honey, but you can also use maple syrup, regular white sugar, brown sugar or stevia, if desired.
- If you prefer to use loose-leaf tea: You can use a tea strainer ball or make a little cloth parcel to steep the tea. You’ll need about 3 teaspoons of loose tea leaves.
- For a stronger minty flavour: Add the mint leaves to the hot water with the tea bags. Remove the leaves once the tea has brewed. You can also infuse the mint longer in the pitcher as well.
- Use the right pitcher: If pouring the hot water directly into a glass pitcher, be careful to use a heat-proof jug. Thin glass jugs can explode if boiling water is added to them.
- For less watery iced tea: I recommend adding the ice to individual glasses so you don’t water down the entire batch of peach iced tea.
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