Blackberry Lemonade Concentrate

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Blackberry Lemonade Concentrate

This canned blackberry lemonade concentrate is richly flavored, sweet-tart, and ready to turn into instant homemade lemonade. Make a quick blackberry juice, combine it with lemon juice and sugar, then water bath can it in pints for easy pantry storage.

Prep Time1

Cook Time10

Canning Time10

Total Time1 20

Course: Drinks

Cuisine: American

Keyword: Lemonade Concentrate Canning Recipes

Servings: servings, about 4 pints

Equipment

Ingredients

For the Blackberry Juice

8 cups blackberries fresh or frozen
1 cup water

For the Concentrate

2 cups blackberry juice from above, see note
4 cups lemon juice fresh or bottled, see note
4 cups sugar

Instructions

Prepare a water bath canner, jars, lids, and rings. Keep everything clean and hot.
Make the blackberry juice. Simmer the blackberries with a little water, mashing as they heat, until softened and deeply colored. Strain through a jelly bag or fine mesh strainer until you have a clear, seed-free juice.
Juice the lemons and strain well to remove seeds and pulp, or measure out bottled lemon juice.
Combine the blackberry juice, lemon juice, and sugar in a saucepan. Heat gently, stirring often, until the sugar dissolves and the mixture reaches about 190 degrees F. Do not boil.
Ladle the hot concentrate into prepared jars, leaving 1/4 inch headspace. Remove bubbles, wipe the rims, and adjust the lids.
Process in a water bath canner for 15 minutes (half pints, pints, and quarts are the same), adjusting for altitude.
Turn off the heat and let the jars rest in the canner for 5 minutes, then cool undisturbed for 12 to 24 hours. Check the seals and store sealed jars in the pantry.

To serve, mix 1 part concentrate with 3 parts water and adjust to taste. For a pint jar of concentrate, that's 2 cups concentrate to 6 cups cold water to yield 1/2 gallon of finished lemonade.

Notes

Yield: This batch uses 2 cups blackberry juice, 4 cups lemon juice, and 4 cups sugar, and makes about 4 pints of concentrate. The 2 cups of blackberry juice come from about 8 cups of blackberries simmered with 1 cup of water, which is roughly 2 1/2 to 3 pounds of fresh fruit. Frozen berries work just as well and tend to release their juice a little faster since freezing breaks down the cell walls.

Lemon Juice: Fresh or bottled both work here. Bottled is the more consistent option for acidity and flavor from batch to batch, and it saves time when you are canning larger quantities. Fresh lemon juice, strained well to keep out the bitter pulp, tends to taste a little brighter. The lemon juice is a flavor choice rather than a safety one in this recipe, since blackberry juice is safe to can on its own, so use whichever you prefer. If you go with bottled, make sure it is plain lemon juice with nothing else added.

Straining: Blackberries are seedy, so this recipe uses strained blackberry juice rather than puree. Simmer the berries to release their juice, mashing as they heat, then strain through a jelly bag or fine mesh strainer to leave the seeds behind. The canning time is the same whether the blackberries go in as strained juice or as puree, so straining is a quality choice rather than a safety one. Strain it once for a smoother drink, run it through a second time for a clearer juice, or leave a little pulp in for more body.

Reconstituting: Mix 1 part concentrate with 3 parts water and adjust to taste from there. A pint jar of concentrate makes about a half gallon of prepared lemonade. For an easy method, pour a pint of concentrate into a half gallon mason jar and fill the rest of the way with cold water. Serve over ice with lemon slices, fresh berries, or mint, or mix the concentrate with sparkling water for a fizzy version.

Storage: Sealed jars are shelf stable in the pantry for up to a year. Refrigerate after opening and use within a few weeks. This same concentrate can also be frozen instead of canned. Leave 1 inch of headspace in freezer-safe jars and use within about 6 months.

Altitude: Process for 15 minutes below 1,000 feet, 20 minutes from 1,001 to 6,000 feet, and 25 minutes above 6,000 feet. The times are the same for half pints, pints, and quarts.

Nutrition