Peach tea is one of the most refreshing summer drinks you can find and Lipton’s variety is one of the best. Lipton is a well-known brand that’s famous for its teas, including flavored ones. One of our favorites is the peach.
The tea is blended in Virginia and is not bitter at all. It is made with black tea leaves and peach flavoring. It has fruity, woody notes and a beautiful reddish-amber color. Your whole family will love the peach flavor.
You just need one bag per quart of boiling water. Allow it to steep for five minutes or so, sweeten it with your chosen sweetener, then add another three quarts of iced water.
While Lipton peach iced tea is delicious and easy to make at home, some consumers prefer to buy the ready-made, canned, or bottled, shelf-stable version.
However, some have complained about finding black stuff in their Lipton peach tea, and with this article, we are sharing what that black stuff is most likely to be.
What Is The Black Stuff In Lipton Peach Tea?
Lipton’s delicious peach iced tea is made with a combination of water, high fructose corn syrup, sodium polyphosphate, citric acid, natural flavor, black tea leaves, and additional preservatives to keep it fresh for a long time.
Since peach tea is made with black tea leaves, some of them may have been left behind after brewing when the tea was being strained. Hence, the black stuff in your Lipton peach tea.
What if the black is something dangerous to my health?
- The black stuff is unlikely to be mold or anything dangerous if you open a fresh can because the product is shelf-stable and contains preservatives. As long as the packaging was sealed and you are consuming the beverage within the sell-by date, you’re good to go. The black stuff is probably just tea leaves. Mold would have a furry, probably whitish or greenish appearance anyway.
- If you open a can or bottle of iced tea and don’t finish it, it’s recommended that you refrigerate it to maintain the flavor and freshness. Do not store it for more than a few days, though, or it may develop mold. In this case, the black particles would be unsafe to drink, and the can of tea should be thrown away. All in all, you don’t need to worry about the black stuff as long as the expiry date hasn’t passed, so just check on the bottle/can.
The lifespan of Lipton Peach Tea
Lipton uses a variety of preservatives in the tea, including sodium polyphosphate, calcium disodium, acesulfame potassium (this is added to protect the flavor), and potassium sorbate (it is important for preserving freshness).
For this reason, the peach iced tea will certainly remain fresh for a long time and all you have to do is to keep the expiration date in mind.
The tea in leaf or bag form remains fresh for about a year if it hasn’t been opened. To retain the freshness and flavor of the tea, it is recommended that you store it away from moisture, air, light, and heat.
A cool, dark place such as a pantry is ideal. Once you open the tea bags or leaves, you should store them in an airtight, moistureproof container such as a glass jar with a lid.
If you have purchased the canned or bottled ready-made variety, you must store it in the refrigerator once opened and consume it within two days.
As far as the sealed peach iced tea leaves are concerned, the flavor tends to deteriorate over time, which is why the company recommends that you consume it within the expiry date.
This is because once the expiration time is over, the tea will become dull in taste, or develop mold.
If you have ensured proper storage of your Lipton peach tea in whatever form, you don’t have to worry about safety even if it contains a few black particles.
Signs of Bad Lipton Peach Tea
We hope we have reassured you that a few black particles in your Lipton iced tea do not mean that the tea is off. However, there are a few signs of bad peach tea that you must know about.
1. Pungent & Dank Smell
Peach tea has a fresh, fruity, summery aroma, so if the tea has a pungent, unpleasant, and dank smell, this is the biggest sign of spoiled tea.
So, before you take the first sip of your peach tea, you need to smell it as you would do with wine.
In the majority of cases, the tea develops a pungent or fermented smell when dry tea leaves have been stored unsealed in a room with a higher humidity level, particularly when the tea wasn’t sealed.
This is because a broken seal means an inflow of air into the tea, which ruins the flavor and aroma.
2. Mold
Mold is the most obvious sign of bad peach tea. Mold can grow on most damp things, irrespective of the fact that it’s organic or not. If you see signs of it on your peach-flavored tea leaves, you need to discard the box right away.
In the majority of cases, the mold develops in dry tea bags, but it’s still recommended that you keep an eye on the liquid tea.
3. Loss of Flavor
Everyone loves Lipton peach tea for its amazing sun-ripened peach flavor, with a good balance of sweet and tangy.
However, if you open the iced tea can, bottle, or leaves and you don’t experience the usual peachy flavor or it tastes fermented, there are chances that the tea is spoiled and shouldn’t be consumed.
Overall, you don’t have to worry about small black particles because these are most likely tea leaves. Enjoy cooling down this summer with a deliciously fruity, refreshing jug of Lipton peach iced tea!