Make Your Own Bottled Tea

I used to drink bottled tea like it was no one’s business (peach-oolong was my jam). And then I realized how much money I was spending on water (a free resource), tea leaves and a bottle. It also bums me out everytime I see aisles of pre-bottled tea, and then walk past a trash can filled with empty bottles. Those landfills aren’t going to empty themselves…

So I started bottling my own tea! Not only is it super easy to do and much more sustainable, but I can mix and match my flavors.

I swear it’s super easy to do. You can either use loose leaf tea or bagged tea- whichever you fancy. These last for up to 3 days.

To make:

Boil water in a tea kettle. If you’re using loose leaf tea, put your tea leaves a tea infuser or french press and add boiling water. If you’re using bagged tea, you can either add the bags to your tea kettle OR brew in a glass pitcher or french press. Add boiling water, stir and let it steep for 45- 60 minutes. I tend to let mine steep so it’s extra strong, that way I can make more iced tea 🙂 While it’s steeping, it will also cool down a bit.

Fill your mason jars 3/4 full with tea. Fill the rest with cold water. Put the lids on the jars and then in the refrigerator! If you want to drink right away, just add some ice. I usually make 3 at a time- one for each day and take them to work or in the car with me when I run errands.

Note: If you prefer sweet tea, feel free to add simple syrup, cane sugar, agave nectar or coconut nectar.

Today’s custom flavor was a mix of Trader Joe’s Coconut Green Tea With Lemongrass & Ginger and Teavana’s Zingiber Ginger Coconut. YUM!