Peach sparkling water, three ways
The unsweetened infusion, the syrup, and the ratio that makes the finished drink.
In season: July and August. A peach that smells like nothing at the counter will taste like nothing in the glass.
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Infused, unsweetened
Use
2 medium ripe peaches, sliced into eighths with the skins on, per 1 litre of water
Method
Leave the skins on, because most of what reads as peach sits just under them. Cover with cold still water and refrigerate. No sugar and no muddling; peach flesh goes to mush the moment you press it.
Time
4 hours for a clean peach flavour, 8 hours at the outside
Sparkling
Still water for the infusion, then top with sparkling in the glass. This is the whole point of the twenty minutes of work. Sliced peach dropped into a can of soda water gives you flat water and slimy fruit.
Keeps
2 days refrigerated. Take the slices out at 8 hours or the fruit goes grey and cottony and the water picks that up.
The syrup
Ratio
2 cups sliced peaches with skins : 1 cup sugar : 1 cup water
Method
Bring to a simmer, hold 10 minutes until the slices go translucent, steep 30 minutes off the heat, strain without pressing.
Keeps
2 weeks refrigerated, 6 months frozen
Note
Keep the skins in the pan. They carry the colour and about half of what people identify as peach.
The finished soda
1 part syrup to 4 parts sparkling water, over ice, with a squeeze of lemon
A 2-inch sprig of thyme dropped in the glass for 30 seconds and then pulled back out.
The shrub version
2 cups sliced peaches and 1 cup sugar, covered in the fridge 2 days, strain, stir in 3/4 cup white wine vinegar, rest 1 week. 1 tablespoon per 8 oz sparkling water.
What doesn't work: Underripe peaches. A supermarket peach firm enough to slice cleanly has almost no aroma in it, and no amount of steeping pulls out what is not there. Leave it on the counter until the stem end smells like peach and the flesh gives under your thumb, usually 3 or 4 days.
Goes with: ThymeGingerBasil