South African Rooibos and Nectarine Iced Tea Cocktail with Gin and Lemon

Bring the water to a boil, pour it over the rooibos, and steep for a full 8 minutes. Rooibos has no tannin to turn bitter, so unlike black tea it only gets better the longer you leave it.

Serves 6

Ingredients

• 4 cups water
• 4 rooibos tea bags, or 4 tsp loose rooibos
• 3 ripe nectarines, 2 sliced and 1 reserved for garnish
• 1/3 cup honey
• 2 strips lemon zest
• 6 fresh mint sprigs, plus more to garnish
• 1/2 cup fresh lemon juice
• 9 oz (270 ml) gin
• Plenty of ice
• Soda water, to top (optional)

Instructions

1. Bring the water to a boil, pour it over the rooibos, and steep for a full 8 minutes. Rooibos has no tannin to turn bitter, so unlike black tea it only gets better the longer you leave it.
2. Slice two of the nectarines and simmer them with the honey and lemon zest in a small pan with 1/4 cup water for 6 minutes, until the fruit is soft and the syrup is fragrant.
3. Mash the fruit lightly against the side of the pan, then strain the syrup through a fine sieve, pressing gently. Let it cool completely.
4. Combine the strained tea, nectarine syrup and lemon juice in a pitcher, bruise the mint sprigs between your palms and drop them in, then chill for at least 2 hours.
5. Fish out the mint before it turns bitter — an hour or two of contact is plenty.
6. To serve, fill tall glasses with crushed ice, pour 1 1/2 oz gin into each, and top with the chilled tea mixture. Stir once from the bottom.
7. Finish with a splash of soda water if you want it lighter, and garnish with thin slices of the reserved nectarine and a fresh mint sprig.
8. For a crowd, mix the gin into the pitcher just before guests arrive and keep a bowl of ice beside it rather than diluting the whole batch in advance.
9. Rooibos grows nowhere on earth but the Cederberg mountains north of Cape Town, where the soil and the brutal summer heat suit a plant that refuses to be farmed anywhere else. South Africans drink it all day, hot and often with milk, but its natural sweetness and complete lack of bitterness make it an unusually forgiving base for a long summer drink — it will not turn astringent as it sits in the pitcher the way black tea does. Late-August nectarines, right at the edge of too ripe, give the syrup its color and most of its body.

Nutrition (estimated, per serving)

• Calories: 180 kcal
• Protein: 1g
• Fat: 0g
• Carbohydrates: 20g
• Fiber: 1g
• Sugar: 18g
• Sodium: 5mg