Lord Grey's Peach Preserves

I loved the floral bergamot flavor! Sprinkled just enough Earl Grey to look like a bit of cracked black pepper. It does take longer than the recipe states and the yield is more. It's tricky cutting back on the sugar because that makes it gel. If you reduce sugar will need pectin unless you like a loose preserve. The lemon juice does cut the sweetness of the sugar and preserves color. I would not omit it. Black tea would not taste the same! I did have to cook it much longer. Next time I will put in the tea bags near the end of cooking time to get the best floral flavor. It will keep a long time in the frig if you want to skip the processing part. Use very clean jars and lids.

• kmstafford

• atlanta

• 6/17/2018

I made the peach preserves today with a few changes. I used organic Chai and removed the bags halfway throught to cooking process. Also I added a package of pectin as the preserves would not set even after more then twice the cooking time. The flavor is fantastic and I may make more as we are in the beginning of the harvest season for peaches.

• hfweil

• Slingerlands, NY

• 8/22/2013

I never follow the sugar and time parts of jam recipes. I add a LOT less sugar and I lengthen the cooking time. Also, I cut up the fruit big and then mash it with a potato masher late in the cooking. Plus, I don't like adding lemon juice to jam as it changes the taste of the fruit. Having said all that, I measured the fruit so I could exactly replicate the amount of tea they call for (and I removed the tea bags after 15 minutes to avoid the taste of over-steeped tea). When the jam was hot the tea flavor was very pronounced. But when it cooled the flavors merged; the tea gives a nice background flavor (like chicken stock in a sauce) but the main flavor is peaches. I had no problem with the tea leaves in the jam (but my tea bags had small bits of tea). I can't taste the bergamot at all - I imagine there's no difference if you use plain black tea. All in all, a good recipe!

• Yappa0

• 9/8/2012

Made one batch and have some observations. 1) Peach pieces a little too large, next time I will cut each 1/3" slice in half. 2) Too sweet for my taste, I will try 3.5 cups sugar or 3 cups sugar and .5 cup honey next time. 3) I didnot use 5th tea bag; some leaves from the bags I did use made their way into the jam and that was fine.4) Ended up with close to 3 pints. Verdict...good, a nice combination and a good gift idea.

• Anonymous

• california

• 7/24/2012

I'm surprised by the other reviews. I made it to take to a friends house for a dinner party and everyone just raved about it. I thought the addition of tea gave it an interesting hint of the tea flavor. I crumbled the tea leaves so they were the size of medium coarse pepper. All I know is that it was a huge hit and everyone asked me to make it again the next time we get together.

• georgeann1

• Charlevoix, MI

• 9/24/2011

The other writers raise valid points. I think that 5 POUNDS of peaches is a little much. Normally, I do a cup of fruit per cup of sugar. DEFINITELY do NOT crumble the tea leaves in! I've found that I always have to increase the cooking time on these epicurious preserve recipes, so keep that in mind. Given that the peach is itself a floral (member of rose family), I think the Earl Grey tea combo is a nice idea. What might lend more Earl Grey (bergamot/floral) flavor is to make an intensely strong simple syrup of Earl Grey tea and use it as the liquid to start the sugar melting. I've been combining peaches with a lot of florals this summer and I like the combination - but it IS an acquired taste. You might like the combination of peaches and lavender or peaches and fennel or peaches and cardamom.

• kereakes

• Nashville, Tennessee

• 8/11/2011

These are good, but not stellar. Don't crumble the tea leaves - they look like dirt in the preserves. I also had to cook for 45 minutes plus and the syrup turned dark red (I used red peaches). Even though preserves are not supposed to set up like jelly, ultimately I had to add liquid pectin (after close to an hour) to get any form of gel because the long boiling was destroying the delicate flavors. There are better ways to use 5 pounds of peaches. I did wonder if the recipe should have read 5 cups of peaches, which would be more in line with other peach preserve recipes.

• Anonymous

• Ca

• 7/29/2011

These are tasty preserves, though the Earl Grey flavor isn't significant. I would leave it out. Definitely don't sprinkle in crumbled tea leaves - the texture is unpleasant. If making these, you'll need to cook for ~45 minutes to get to 4-5 half-pints. You'll know it's ready when the liquid part starts to get dark and substantially thicken.

• bensoni

• Oakland, CA

• 7/29/2011

Got a few questions on this one. 1) After 30 minutes of cooking, the peaches seem nowhere near preserves consistency. 2) I'm going to get waaaaay more than 2 pints per recipe. 3) I'm pretty sure the canning instructions in the magazine (not in the online recipe) are omitting the key step of boiling the lids along with the jars. How will all this end? The three boiling pots on my stove want to know.

• ccm7g

• 7/25/2011