Tea with the Black Dragon

This was the very first year I went to the San Francisco International Tea Festival. I first learned about it from my friends who were posting about it on social media....the day after. I was so bummed! So, I planned it out for the following year and scheduled my vacation around it. A friend of mine (also first time going) came with me and I planned to meet up with other friends while there.  I had an amazing time this weekend; tried so many teas and learned a bunch of things! This year the venue was at the Palace of Fine Arts, and although parking was not the greatest, it was a good venue -- plenty of room. There were so many vendors with such good tea, but I had (more or less) a list of things that I wanted to get/try: A good Assam / Keemun A good puerh Try out Kenyan purple tea Try Korean blue pea flower tea Try out different vendors And there were so many different vendors with various types of tea ranging from mixed blends to one varietal to tisanes. I ...

 I decided to try and find some new tea vendors for me to sample their offerings. I looked on Steepster at some of the folks I follow to see who they drank the most as well as the discussion forums, and found a vendor, Whispering Pines, that looked promising. I checked out their tea ratings, read their descriptions, and ordered a few things on September 26th. A week later, I had my tea! Everything was well packed. Thumbs up for their shipping! Mostly, I ordered oolongs and black teas just to give it a taste. They also sent me a small sampler of their Imperial Gold Needle. I can't wait to try them all out!