Homemade Sweet Tea in summer is a delight but if you forget to do it in time or you think you have a jug in the fridge and company shows up and you reach for it, only to see that its been mostly drunk already..
Dang, if you start new, you know the issue.. that Sweet Tea either is sun tea which takes time or it starts out hot.. That is where putting up some Sweet Tea into your canning jars can be a awesome thing indeed.
Tea is a low ph, so you either need to add the sugar and lemon to make it safe to water bath can or you are going to need to pressure can it.
Sweet Tea Concentrate
- 20 cups of water
- 7 to 10 cups of sugar
- 1 cup of lemon juice
- 15 tea bags of your choice.
This is such a simple recipe.. measure out your water bring it to a boil, then add your tea bags, let it simmer for five min and then take off heat and steep 20 to 40 min. Strain out the tea bags (I find they often break and I need to strain the whole pot though one of my linen cloths, if yours stays together better, good for you.. if in doubt, wrap the tea bags in cheese cloth)
Bring the tea back up to a simmer-boil and add your sugar an lemon juice, stir till the sugar melts and then jar up into pints and water bath process for 15 min.
Hubby likes his strong and so he drinks it at 2 to 1, I personally like it less strong and I love it at a 3 to 1. Just crack a jar, pour into your jug and add your cold water and ice and stir and go!
Its worth putting up a batch to have on hand, I still make my regular sweet tea for the fridge but to be able to grab a jar to pack for a picnic or for when friends show up..
PS, add a little kick to this mix and wow does it make really good hard ice tea 🙂
Just another Day on the Farm 
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Approx how many pints does this reciepe make and can it be doubled?
Hi Marsha, it will make on average 15 to 16 pints and you can double it no issues at all. You just need to try it to figure out the level of sugar you want and the strength of the tea.. I have had feedback that some folks like one tea bag per cup of water. for me that is to strong.. I have had others as if they can lower the sugar, the lowest rate I could find safe in my books would be 5 cups for water bath canning. Have fun and enjoy it.. its nice to have it stocked up for when we need it in the summer 🙂
What is the size tea bags you used?
Standard Red Rose Tea bags
Thanks so much for sharing this! I have a question. What is the shelf life of the canned tea? Thank you!
i have always used it up within three months but it should be shelf stable if kept in a cool dark place for a year or even longer
Hi, I’m wondering how strong the lemon flavor is? I don’t care for lemon in my tea. However, I really don’t want to have to pressure it! Other foods that I add lemon to for HWB I can’t taste the lemon, so I just wondered about this! Thank you!
personally I do not find it to have much lemon flavour to it but if you pick up on it quickly, it might something you notice.. As long as you are following the recipe in regards to your water/sugar ratio then its waterbath safe due to the sugar content, you do not have to put in the lemon, i just like it to help balance the tea bitter and sweetness. Its not required for safety due to it sugar content
Thank you so much!
Holly Harris
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I would like to know if you can substitute the sugar with Stevia?
For fresh use that is to be stored in the fridge for a day or two, sure you can udo it up that way, for canning NO, Stevia can not replace sugar to make a shelf stable product that is water bath safe.
Thank you so much for you quick reply.