Iced tea with peach or lemon

• By Claire Borg

You will need:

10 tea-bags (normal tea), three litres of bottled water, the juice of one and a half lemons, 12 to 15 tablespoonfuls of sugar, for peach tea: four peaches (washed and sliced but not peeled), for lemon tea: one Maltese lemon (washed and sliced).

To make lemon iced tea - Put the tea-bags into a litre of boiling water. Leave this to stand for five minutes. Remove the tea-bags and add the sugar and lemon juice, then stir until the sugar has dissolved. Add the remaining two litres of water and the lemon slices, and chill for at least two hours. Serve it in a clear glass jug with plenty of ice, checking first for sweetness. If it is not sweet enough for your taste, simply stir in more sugar.

To make peach iced tea – Put the tea-bags into a litre of boiling water. Leave this to stand for five minutes. Remove the tea-bags and add the sugar and lemon juice, stirring until the sugar has dissolved. Then put in the peach slices, the other two litres of water, and refrigerate the container for two hours at least. The peaches will be stained with tea, but they will have imparted their flavour to the liquid. If you wish, you can take out the stained slices and replace them with fresh ones before serving this tea in a clear glass jug, with plenty of ice. Check for sweetness, adding more sugar if you think it needs it.