DeKalb County Farmer's Market

At 3 am last night, I decided I wanted to make chai. Not because I wanted a cup at that hour, but because I really enjoy the ritual of it. Also, it makes my kitchen smell amazing. I figured I’d put it in the fridge for the next morning, when it would be greatly appreciated.

I’m almost done with this tub of bulk black tea. I don’t like it very much, but it works well enough as a base to blend with. I’m going to try it with a plain Assam next.

This is my current chai recipe, if anyone’s curious:

4 cups water
8 tsp. black tea
1 tsp. vanilla extract
10 cloves
10 cardamom pods (mine might be a bit old, so you might need less)
5 cinnamon sticks (same goes for this)
1 2" piece of ginger root, sliced up
1 tbsp honey

This makes chai concentrate, so it’s best served over a lot of ice and with milk.

Initially, I bought this tea to practice blending chai with. You know, something really cheap and in bulk so I could mess up if need be. (The entire tub, about 5.5 oz of leaf, only cost me two dollars.) Now that I feel like I’ve gotten the hang of it, I’m finally trying the tea plain.

The leaves are in tiny, nearly black pieces. Its aroma is weak and sort of cardboard-like. As it steeps, the water gets a little cloudy. It has a sort of tangy scent and flavor that I’m not liking. A sort of weird, iodine-like sourness. Otherwise, it tastes like your standard Ceylon. A tad bitter and astringent with notes of hay and earth. Once I finish the tub, I’ll probably reach for some other bulk black tea to mix with… but this served its purpose.

I… may still be dipping into the tub of this I bought 5 years ago. It just goes so well in sleepy tea that I can’t toss it!

Now, this has been in my cabinet for a few months. I bought it in a little tub that’s lasting me a very long time. I’ve been mixing it with sencha and sipping it iced to try to mimic Tazo’s Zen. It’s not exactly the same, but it’s still good. (I think I need to add lemongrass to make it better.)

When they reference Ceylon in the name, I think they must be referring to the region. These are just plain crushed peppermint plants otherwise. No actual tea.

Anyway, I decided to review this on its own instead of using it as an additive. It’s icy and horrible outside, yet I still want something refreshing. It has a nice, long-lasting mint flavor. As long as you keep the steep time around three minutes or less, it doesn’t start tasting bitter or medicinal. Sometimes mint teas can have a hint of dill flavor to me, which I am repulsed by. This one doesn’t as long as you don’t use too much leaf or steep it too long. It does well for what it is, but it’s pretty unremarkable.

Brewing a pot mixed with Ceylon peppermint tea & Black tea lemon. Excellent hot tea…

Used it for iced tea and didn’t like it quite as much as the farmer’s market’s peach ceylon, but it was a nice, faintly lemony black tea.

My go-to tea for iced tea. If I don’t feel like sweetening it, the floral smell and light peach flavor add enough interest to drink it plain. No fake peach taste at all.

After Bonnie mentioned the ice brewing technique for Gyokuro, I had to try it with this stuff. It’s not the best by any means, but I figured I’d give it a try anyway.

Holy crap, it really changes this tea. It’s like drinking grass. Seriously. That might sound gross but it’s actually quite mindblowing.

It’s amazing. It’s so powerfully flavored; it’s pure grass at first and then it’s the naturally sweetest tea I have ever tasted.

Since I don’t have the proper stuff for making this, I just put 5 grams of tea in the infuser for my cast iron pot, then added 5 ice cubes, or however many it was that fit in there and let me put the lid on. I’ve been using the small cups that came with my gaiwan to have some as its ready and it’s just wow. I don’t even know what else to say. It’s turning cheap gyokuro into gold.

Hahah here I took a picture and everything, expecting this to not be listed yet, but Tabby beat me to it.

I love the bulk stuff at this “farmer’s market” (it’s more like an international grocery). I did not know before that they had greens and oolongs because it’s so crowded I only saw the black teas. So I had to immediately grab this.

I was not expecting much. I paid $2.30 for about 3 1/4 ounces.

I don’t know if it was my low expectations or what, but holy crap, this is actually good! It’s very grassy but sweet. I didn’t want to make much so I used my gaiwan and guessed a bit and steeped it for a minute. It could probably go a bit less and of course I couldn’t find the little booklet from Den’s Tea to at least try their parameters on it. (That search begins after this.)

This will do until one day I have the money for a really good gyokuro.

I have made this tea several times by now, I just haven’t logged it.

A few times, I’ve made a tall cup to go. It’s good hot, as the tea beneath the lemon flavor is pretty decent and is good for the morning. I grew up drinking Ceylon, so I’m a little biased. There are very few Ceylons I would give a bad rating to.

I can tell it’s cheap, but I’m not complaining. Especially when I make it iced. The lemon flavor isn’t painfully artificial, but not exactly natural, either. It could maybe use some lemon peel or something to liven it up. But it would make a good staple for iced tea, especially for days where I don’t have fresh lemons for it.

This is my third tasting note, and my second tub of this tea.

I was at the market again the other day picking up shrimp, green curry, and some miscellaneous produce when I realized I needed some kind of plain black tea to make sweet tea from. Since this stuff is under $3 a tub, I figured I could have my loose leaf fix and be cheap at the same time. (Sweet tea is just fodder for myself and whoever’s over anyway.) Made a 2 quart pitcher from 9 teaspoons and added sugar. The pitcher was empty by the end of the night.

Upping my rating and adding a photo!

I made a pitcher of it and brewed it for thirty seconds less than I have been before. Those thirty seconds really made a difference. Before, it had a sort of spicy aftertaste that I wasn’t liking, but when the steep time is cut, it goes away. Anyway, I had it sweetened over ice. With a bendy straw, because those make everything taste better, right?

Like I said before, this is a mild and mellow Assam. Smooth and simple.

As far as the assams I’ve tried in the past have tasted, this one is a little mild. It’s a mellow, slightly musky black tea. Pretty unremarkable, but will make good fodder for mixing and making in big batches. I’ll probably overlook it next time I’m at the market, as I liked their ceylon a bit more.

I’ll have a picture for this tea up tomorrow!

Thanks to Zij-Ra, I got to try this oolong yesterday afternoon.

I didn’t take part in the preparation of this tea, so I can’t describe it much. Zij-Ra didn’t use an infuser, as she explained it wasn’t necessary. I was really impressed to see why. The leaves, though rolled tightly, expanded and uncurled to reveal that they were entirely whole. This is something quite impressive to me since I mostly stick to (admittedly low grade lately) black teas. It looked lovely in the cup, and I found myself looking down into it as I sipped, watching the leaves swirl about.

As for the flavor, it was most definitely an oolong even though the leaves are a little lighter green than some oolongs I’ve tried. I added a little honey to enhance the flavor, which seemed to bring out the oolong’s nuttiness. However, it did seem to taste a lot like a green tea as well, for lack of a better description. It had more of that fresh taste than I was expecting.

The steep time is just a guess since we never took the leaves out. I waited a pretty long time, probably more than I logged, because I’m sensitive to hot water.

Hmm, I’m still the only person to review this tea so far. It’s sad that Atlanta seems to have so few Steepsterites.

Anyway, I’ve reviewed this tea three times before. It’s a coarse and cheap flavored Ceylon that’s better served over ice. Bright green apple flavor and mild black tea.

Made the tea last night, using a little more leaf than I should have, and left it in the ‘fridge overnight. But before I did, I blended two pinches of the DeKalb Farmer’s Market’s own apple pie spice into it. The next morning, I had a cold apple tea with the perfect balance of strong Ceylon flavor embellished with rich spices. It was a wonderful autumn treat that I will certainly be making again.

Alright, so I gave this tea another go. I made it iced instead of hot, and I think I got a better batch. I definitely used enough leaf this time and it turns out that it’s about as strong as the raspberry blend I also have. I’m bumping up my rating, because I love anything apple flavored and this is no exception. Yum.

The first thought I had when I opened the container to sniff was “Wow, Sour Apple Blowpops”. This is definitely a green apple flavored tea, not apple cinnamon. The package doesn’t list ingredients, but there is no way this isn’t artificially flavored somewhat. It’s too strong and candylike.

I found that even after almost five minutes, this tastes a little weak. I’m keeping my rating a little low because of it. The apple flavor is very pleasant and nice, and it lingers in my mouth, but it’s not as flavorful as I expected from the scent. Next time, it gets a longer brew time and more leaf. Then maybe I can make a more final judgement.

I’m nearing the end of my little tub. I’ve made several pitchers and countless tall icy glasses of this tea. I had a feeling it would be my summer staple this year, and it definitely has been. I’ve also been experimenting and blending it with other teas to create flavors like Raspberry Apple, Raspberry Plum, or Raspberry Darjeeling, etc.

I will definitely pick up another tub when I go back. I still can’t believe 5 oz. of loose leaf is only $2. Also, I’ll be trying the Earl Grey and whatever else catches my eye.

Sipping an iced glass after work, lightly sweetened. No lime slice this time. I sort of burned myself out on it for a while.

I also wanted to welcome Zij-Ra to Steepster. Follow her, guys, she knows what she’s talking about. Anyway, she and her man, Kevin, were over yesterday and we made this tea iced with chunks of fresh lychee. We added the nut-fruits (fruit-nuts?) to the hot water, where they sort of infused with the tea and vice versa. The result was a little stronger Ceylon-y than I intended, but still delicious. The raspberry flavor held strongest, but the lychee added a certain exotic flavor. I would definitely do this again. Makes me wonder what other things I could infuse it with…

Made a pitcher of iced tea, sweetened, with a sliced up and slightly muddled lime. It’s divine. New favorite summer drink.

EDIT: After sitting in the fridge overnight, this got incredibly limey. I can’t even drink it now. It’s too strong and tart. Next time I’ll just use lime juice by itself.

Finally took a picture and uploaded it. It bugs me when teas I review don’t have images.

Made a glass iced last night. The raspberry flavor is more subtle when it’s cold, but I like it. It’s more refreshing than fruit juice, and yet it comes with a nice caffeine boost. Wish I had a lemon or lime slice to put in it. Something to think about for next time…