Gary Shinner

An avid yogi, founder and CEO of Mighty Leaf Tea, Gary loves to walk his Golden Retriever puppy William when he is not traveling or concocting new tea blends or innovative solutions for tea.

Bliss Dake

Bliss Dake is the Chief Marketing Officer for Mighty Leaf Tea. He oversees Mighty Leaf’s marketing, online marketing, and social media efforts.  Born in a log cabin in Oregon, Bliss got his start in the food and beverage working in the family alfalfa sprout business at a young age, growing and delivering fresh produce to local health food stores and groceries.  His taste for tea developed while spending time in India, especially chai from the ubiquitous chai wallahs.  Bliss enjoys all things food and beverage, including tasting tea, cooking and food photography.

Vinita Jacinto

Vinita Chopra Jacinto has been involved in the food industry for over three decades. She has extensive experience in culinary education, hotel management and nonprofit services. Vinita has been a culinary educator in San Francisco for over a decade, teaching classes that focus around sustainable and health conscious cuisine.

She has worked at the Le Cordon Bleu School – California Culinary Academy for several years and was the Manager and Lead Instructor of CHEFS, a program dedicated to fighting homelessness through employment in the food services industry. Vinita graduated with her degree in Catering Technology and Applied Nutrition from The Institute of Hotel Management in Mumbai, India. Her areas of culinary focus include vegan and vegetarian cuisine, Indian regional cuisines, Ayurveda and Macrobiotic, Tea Cuisine, sustainable food and nutritional cooking. In addition to her love for all things food, Vinita is a certified Yoga instructor. She has a passion for tea, spices, local food movements, and incorporating old food wisdom into the new generation. “Passion with Compassion” is her food and teaching philosophy.

New to the blogosphere, Vinita posts recipes and culinary musings at spicewhisperer.wordpress.com.

Jeremy Warner

Jeremy Warner is a physician at the University of California, San Francisco. He works with patients hospitalized for treatment or complications of leukemia, lymphoma, and multiple myeloma. He plans a career in oncology with a specific focus on molecular prognostics and cancer outcomes. His other interests include food, sustainable agriculture, and the environment, which he writes about on his blog, Basic Eating. He is especially interested in the chemopreventive effects of certain foods (including tea), and in clarifying the numerous and contradictory claims about such foods.

Shawn Refuoa

Shawn Refoua has been tending bar for approximately 9 years. He has been
teaching bartending at the San Francisco School of Bartending for over 3
years. Shawn currently works at Rouge and Azul, two clubs in San Francisco.