Tasty Tuesdays: Governor's Mansion Summer Peach Tea

This past Saturday, Mark and I spent the morning by our neighborhood pool with some friends.  Without a cloud in the sky, it was hotter than hot out there.  Do you ever feel like it just gets hotter each passing summer?  Maybe I'm just getting older and less patient with the idea of sweating while taking the dogs out in the morning, but each year it feels hotter than the one before. 

There's one thing I just crave when it's 9:00 am and ninety degrees - iced tea.  I don't know about you, but I think it is just the most refreshing thing.  There are so many varieties of this tasty beverage- unsweetened, sweetened (which my friend refers to as the house wine of the South), herbal, flavored, and let's not forget Firefly sweet tea vodka! 

I thought this recipe from Southern Living for Governor's Mansion Summer Peach Tea sounded too delicious not to share!  We have a houseful of guests coming over the 4th, and I think this will be the perfect thing to serve as they arrive.  Nothing says welcome to summer in the South like a large glass of iced tea!

Ingredients

• 4  cups  water
• 3  family-size tea bags
• 2  cups  loosely packed fresh mint leaves
• 1  (33.8-oz.) bottle peach nectar
• 1  (6-oz.) can frozen lemonade concentrate, thawed
• 1/2  cup  Simple Sugar Syrup
• 1  (1-liter) bottle ginger ale, chilled
• 1  (1-liter) bottle club soda, chilled
• Garnish: fresh mint sprigs

Preparation

1. Bring 4 cups water to a boil in a medium saucepan; add tea bags and 2 cups mint leaves. Boil 1 minute; remove from heat. Cover and steep 10 minutes.

2. Remove and discard tea bags and mint. Pour into a 1-gal. container; add peach nectar, lemonade concentrate, and Simple Sugar Syrup. Cover and chill 8 hours or overnight.

3. Pour chilled tea mixture into a punch bowl. Stir in ginger ale and club soda just before serving. Garnish, if desired.

This recipe make about one gallon of tea!

What's your favorite summertime beverage?  Do you have a good Firefly sweet tea vodka recipe?