Trà Dào (Vietnamese Peach Tea)

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:

1. Boil a pot of water deep enough to submerge the peaches.
2. Make a shallow “X” in the bottom of the peaches with a paring knife.
3. Submerge the peaches in the boiling water for 30 to 60 seconds.
4. Immediately transfer the peaches to an ice water bath.
5. Peel the peaches with your fingers; use a paring knife to remove any small bits that remain.
6. 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.