Tea with the Black Dragon

This particular tea is one I purchased from West China Tea Company. I love charcoal roasted teas, especially traditional style Tie Guan Yins. I love the taste of the roast, the smoke, the underlying notes of potentially chocolate, carmel/toffee, mild sweetness, etc. Each charcoal roasted teas are different from each other, depending on what flavors the roaster decides is needed.

Some people often wonder what to do with the spent leaves of a tea, once they are done with a tea session. Personally, I try to use as much of a tea as possible as the making tea is a very time consuming process that requires a lot of effort, especially if you're buying from farmers versus corporations that make tea.

 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!