Definitely don't pressure can capped bottles.
I think the risk of botulism from bottled tea is probably negligible.
There's just not going to be much nutrient in the brew. Also the tannins
and acidity of the sugar will probably do away with any botulinum spores.
Generally botulism is introduced as the result of soil contamination in
vegetables, so again I think the risk is low.
Go for it. It's more likely the tea will suffer from lacto infection than
botulism.
If you die, don't sue me, I ain't got shizz...

-Brett

(Mike Flaminio) drunkenly bellowed in
m:

Thank you for your insight. While I didn't state it, botulism is my
main concern. I didn't test the pH, although that was one intent of
the lemon. I've got a quality pH test kit (designed for water
treatment) for my aquarium. I could easily add lemon to reach the
desired pH. Provided I maintain a good pH and pressure cook, would
that be sufficient?

I'm not a canner, so I'm learning on this front too. What would be the
best procedure for this? I thought when you canned jars, air was
pushed out. What would happen if I pressure cooked capped bottles?


"Cwrw42" wrote in message
nk.net...
Mike

My instinct as a professional microbiologist says proceed with
extreme caution if at all.

Everything I have read about tea packaging has told me that it is a
hot pack process anat it is usually pasteurized or loaded with
preservatives (Sodium Benzoate). The big unknown is what is the pH
of brewed tea. What makes beer so safe is that after fermentation
the pH of beer is typically between 4.4 and 4.7, this combined with
the alcohol and hop acids inhibits the growth of pathogenic
microorganism, particularly C. botulinum the organism that produces
the botulism toxin.

I have no knowledge or experience of the safety or efficacy of what I
am proposing below but if I were to bottle tea this is how I would
proceed. Brew the tea, sweeten and add lemon to taste, bottle and cap
the bottles. Then using a canning pressure cooker process the bottles
as you would for any low acid canned food.

If I wanted an "instant", ready to serve tea that I could make up
rapidly this is what I would do. Make up a very strong brew of tea,
add sugar and lemon and store in the fridge, this should last about a
week. This can then be diluted to drinking strength pretty quickly.
A larger quantity of the "concentrate" could be stored frozen for a
greater period of time.

Be Safe - Cwrw-42.



--
"They who drink beer will think beer."
-Washington Irving