Plums are a delicious fruit enjoyed by many, especially during the summer months. This stone fruit has a unique sweet and sour taste that makes it a popular choice for snacks and beverages. One such drink is plum tea, a refreshing concoction perfect for beating the heat.
How to Select the Best Plums
When shopping for plums, it’s important to choose fresh, ripe fruit. Look for plums with taut skin that are free of bruises and blemishes. Ripe plums will have a reddish hue, ranging from light to dark red. For a sweeter treat, select plums with a deeper red color. If you prefer your plums on the sour side, go for those with a lighter red shade tinged with green.
Fresh plums have a smooth, glossy skin with a natural waxy coating. This coating can be easily washed off with water. Avoid plums with dull, matte skin or signs of bruising and discoloration.
A slight squeeze can help you determine the plum’s ripeness. Ripe plums will have a slight give, while unripe ones will feel hard. Unripe plums tend to have a bitter taste, so it’s best to wait for them to ripen before enjoying them.
Preparing Plum Tea
- Ingredients for Plum Tea
3 tea bags, 250ml hot water, 50ml cold water, 40 grams of sugar, 5 stalks of lemongrass, 50ml plum syrup, 30ml lemon juice, ice cubes.
- Steps to Make Plum Tea
Start by preparing a plum preserve. Wash and dry the plums, then cut them into bite-sized pieces, removing the pits. Layer the plum pieces with sugar in a jar or container. For every kilogram of plums, use 300-500 grams of sugar. Let this mixture sit until the sugar dissolves, creating a syrup.
Transfer the plum preserve to a pot and bring it to a boil for about 5 minutes. Turn off the heat and separate the plums from the syrup, allowing both to cool completely.
Enhance the syrup by adding the juice of one lemon. This adds a refreshing twist to your tea. Prepare a glass jar by sterilizing it and pour the syrup into it, sealing it tightly and storing it in the fridge for future use.
For an aromatic touch, bruise 5 stalks of lemongrass and boil them in 50ml of water for 2 minutes. Strain the lemongrass-infused water and set it aside to cool.
Steep the tea bags in hot water for about 5 minutes, then remove the bags and collect the infused tea.
In a cocktail shaker or a jar, combine ice, tea, a splash of lemongrass water, plum syrup, lemon slices, and preserved plums. Shake well to mix all the flavors together. Adjust the sweetness to your taste.
Garnish with fresh plum slices and a sprinkle of chili salt for an extra kick. This adds a unique contrast to the drink’s sweetness.
Variations: Plum Tea with Passion Fruit Pearls
Take your plum tea to the next level by adding passion fruit pearls. These chewy, tangy pearls complement the sweet plum flavor beautifully.
Prepare the plum syrup as mentioned above. For the passion fruit pearls, you’ll need 2 passion fruits. Scoop out the pulp, removing the seeds, and place it in a pot with a small amount of water. Bring this to a boil.
Turn off the heat and gradually add tapioca starch until you form a soft, pliable dough. Roll the dough into small pearls and boil them until they turn transparent and float to the top. Rinse the cooked pearls in cold water and toss them with a teaspoon of sugar to prevent sticking.
Steep your tea bags in hot water. In a cocktail shaker, combine tea, plum syrup, preserved plums, and passion fruit pearls. Add ice and shake well. Pour into a glass and enjoy your exotic plum tea creation!
We hope you enjoy these refreshing plum tea recipes. They’re perfect for a hot summer day and a great way to utilize this delicious summer fruit.
