Canning Iced Tea Concentrate

   Two things that I absolutely love in this world are iced tea on a hot day and a pot filled with something that I have just bottled up to can. It's about time that I put one and one together to come up with my latest project. Canned iced tea concentrate that is ready whenever I am!

Iced tea made from Home Canned Concentrate!

     You may ask way I even bother doing this, but if you've ever made tea to go along with your dinner at the last minute, or someone just wants a refreshing drink to cool off in a hurry, then you know that iced tea starts off hot and has to work its way down to cool off. Not Convenient! So I searched the internet for answers and came up with a couple of resources that were encouraging, but not exactly what I was hoping for. Then it hit me! (Yes, I got excited.) The whole process works the way you specifically make your own favorite tea. In other words, I needed a recipe that would produce the tea I love to drink. So here's how I break it down:

     I make tea in a one gallon jug, so when I make concentrate it needs to make one gallon when I am done. I then used the exact recipe that I always used, except instead of making it in a one gallon jug I would make it in a quart sized canning jar instead. Then all I need to do when I want iced tea is add the contents of the quart jar to my usual gallon jug and top it off with water to make a full gallon. Easy, Peasy, Mac'n'Cheesey! Okay is everyone following me here? You get the same amount of tea that you normally make, but you make it ahead so you have it conveniently cool whenever you want it. It really has spoiled me. Follow these steps, then I will post my recipe at the bottom.

     My canner hold seven quarts, so that's where I began. I measured out the sugar for a full gallon of tea and poured it into a quart jar. I know it looks like a lot of sugar, but that is the amount (1 1/4cup) that I use for one full gallon of tea. Also notice that I have a large family sized tea bag for each jar. You may use whatever you normally use. I have made it both ways, with the large bag and multiple small/regular bags. The one thing I will let you in on here is that if you are using the family-sized bags, use wide-mouth jars. I nearly tore the bags trying to remove them from the regular-mouth jars. Oh, and the jars and lids should be sterilized as you would for any canning project.
     Okay, we have our sugar poured into each jar. We have our tea bags ready and waiting. Next, heat a large pot of water to the boiling point. The water needs to be pretty hot to steep the tea properly. Once the water is nice and hot, it's time to fill the jars.

Use a wide funnel to avoid painful accidents!

     I hope you can see that in the photo I have filled the jar about 2/3 full of water, not entirely full. I do this so that there will be room for the tea bag(s), which come later. First of all, you will need to stir the water to dissolve the sugar.

2/3 full and the perfect amount for stirring sugar without spilling out!

Sugar has now dissolved.

Now we add the tea bags to the jars and top top off the jars with a little more hot water.

     Once the bags are down inside the jars, I top off each jar with a little more hot water and give it a push with the spoon to sink it down a little farther. Place the lid on top to allow the brew to steep. I let mine sit for about 20 minutes, but then I do like a brisk taste in my sweet tea. Notice the stages of color as each jar below steeps.

far right: first jar, moving to the left. Each steeps at its own pace.

     After about 20 minutes I begin removing the bags from the jars. I give each bag a gentle squeeze to extract as much liquid as I can. This is the time to be careful of  tearing the tea bags. See...

I squeezed it til it popped! Yuck!

After removing the tea bag, fill the jar up leaving 1" head space.

      As you can see, the jars need a little more water to bring them back up to being full. Once filled, wiped the rim of each jar with a clean paper towel or cloth and adjust the lids and bands, getting it ready for processing.

     Once in the pot, cover jars with water. i use about two inches of water over the tops of the jars when I am using the water bath method. Tea has a great deal of acid so there is no need to pressure can the jars. Now that the jars are loaded and ready to go, bring the water to a full boil with the lid on the pot. Once boiling, process for 10 minutes. Remove the jars and place on a towel on the counter top and listen for the sweet "ping" of success! And there you have it, Iced Tea Concentrate!

Lovely!

My Recipe: (Per quart jar)
1 1/4cup sugar
1 family-sized tea bag or 12 regular-sized bags
hot water

Pour sugar into quart jar; add hot water to fill 2/3 of the jar. Stir to dissolve the sugar completely. Add tea bag(s) to the jar and top off with more hot water. Place a lid on the jar, allowing the tea to steep for 20 minutes. Remove the tea bag(s) and top off with hot water again, leaving 1" head space in the jar. Adjust lid and band and tighten. Place in water bath canning pot and cover with water, 2 " over the top of the jar. Bring to a full boil with the lid on the pot. Once boiling, process for 10 minutes. Turn off the stove and remove from heat. Carefully remove jar from pot, placing it on a towel on the counter top. Jar is sealed when you hear it ping. Leave undisturbed for 24 hours. Taa-Daaa! Now you've done it! Life will never be the same again!

And here's your reward...

Traveling at the speed of life.