Orchard Iced Tea – A Refreshing Pear & Elderflower Cider Cocktail
A refreshing taste of summer beneath the apple trees ...
There are some places that quietly become part of your story. For us, Wady's Cider Orchard and Taproom is one of them. On warm summer afternoons, it's one of our favourite places to escape for an hour or two. Sitting beneath the apple trees with a chilled drink in hand, watching the light filter through the orchard, you can't help but slow down. There's something wonderfully simple about it all ... the scent of apples warming in the sunshine, the gentle buzz of bees drifting between the trees and that unmistakable feeling that summer doesn't really need to be any more complicated than this. This year, they've been serving a summer-inspired cider cocktail, and it got me thinking about creating something of my own.
I'm currently a little obsessed with infusing flavoured teas into my recipes, and I'd had a box of pear and elderflower tea bags sitting patiently in the larder, waiting for inspiration to strike. A medium cider paired with the delicate flavours of pear and elderflower? Now that sounded like something that just might work. In fact, I could almost taste it before I'd even made it. Excited to see whether I could create a cider-based iced tea, I brewed a batch of pear and elderflower tea, left it to cool, roasted a few slices of pear from our own trees for a garnish, and headed off to our favourite summer spot to put it all together beneath the apple trees.
The result was everything I'd hoped for. A fragrant pear and elderflower tea, gently infused until floral and delicate, mixed with Wady's Orchard Rambler cider, plenty of ice and a fresh slice of lemon. The pear beautifully echoes the orchard fruit, while the elderflower adds a gentle floral note that feels perfectly at home beneath the branches. The squeeze of lemon brightens everything, lifting the drink without overpowering its delicate flavours.
It's light, refreshing and wonderfully easy to make ... perfect for lazy afternoons in the garden, picnics, barbecues or simply closing your eyes and imagining you're sitting in a Somerset orchard. Sometimes the best recipes don't begin in the kitchen.
Sometimes they begin exactly where they're meant to.
Orchard Iced Tea
Serves 2
Ingredients
2 Pear & Elderflower tea bags
150ml freshly boiled water
1 can (440ml) Wady's Orchard Rambler cider, well chilled
Plenty of ice
Lemon slices, to serve
Method
Place the tea bags into 150ml freshly boiled water and leave to infuse for 8–10 minutes.
Remove the tea bags and allow the tea to cool completely. Chill if you have time.
Fill two glasses generously with ice.
Pour approximately 75ml of the cooled tea (a double measure) into each glass.
Top each glass with half a can of chilled Orchard Rambler cider.
Garnish with a fresh slice of lemon or roasted pear slice and serve immediately.
Jo's Kitchen Notes
Allowing the tea to infuse for the full 8 to 0 minutes gives enough flavour to stand up to the cider without becoming overpowering.
Chill both the tea and the cider before serving so the ice doesn't dilute the drink too quickly.
For an alcohol free version, swap the cider for sparkling apple juice or a good quality alcohol free cider.
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