Desert Island Tea 5 - (Author) Beatrice Hohenegger

It's been quite a while since our last installment of Desert Island Tea, but I'll proceed under the assumption that late is truly better than never. Today's castaway is Beatrice Hohenegger, author of Liquid Jade: The Story of Tea from East to West. If that title sounds familiar, it may be because I mentioned it in yesterday's installment.

Question:
If you were stranded on a desert island (an island with clean, fresh water and tea making equipment, of course) what one tea (only one) would you like to have with you and why?

Beatrice Hohenegger's Answer:
In answer to your $64,000 question, here's what I would do: I would consult with a reputable pu'er vendor, tell him/her that I prefer shu, and let them give me the best cake of the best year they have. Then every infusion and every brewing will tell me a different story, and I won't ever be bored, it will be (almost) as if I had more than one tea with me. In addition, if I have to be stranded for a long time, the tea won't go bad but instead will get better and better -- heck, it might even give a return on the investment if I have any left over... But -- for all this to happen I'd have to have those $64,000 ...

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Desert Island Tea 4 - (Author) Diana Rosen

Uh, oh. We have another castaway on the island. No, it's not Brooke Shields, Tom Hanks or anyone named Robinson. This time around it's none other than Diana Rosen, author of such fabulous tea tomes as Meditations With Tea, The Book Of Green Tea, Chai: The Spice Tea Of India and Taking Time For Tea.

Question:
If you were stranded on a desert island (an island with clean, fresh water and tea making equipment, of course) what one tea (only one) would you like to have with you and why?

Diana Rosen's Answer:
Only one? Sure hope I'm rescued soon, or at least before the next harvest. Looking at my groaning cupboard with selections from all over the globe makes choosing just one supremely difficult. Today I had an exquisite flowery Darjeeling, yesterday it was a silky Dragonwell, and right now it's a heady Ti Kwan Yin.

What to do? Perhaps an elegant Mao Feng, more properly known as Huang Shan Mao Feng, from one of China's most venerable mountain ranges in the Anhui Province The tea gives multiple infusions, has a sweet, lingering taste, with a rumor of nuttiness. I have drunk pots of this green tea and never tire of it because it has a deep satisfying flavor like no other. Then, again, maybe I should take the......

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Desert Island Tea 3 - Gail Gastelu (Tea House Times)

It's been a while since our last installment of Desert Island Tea, but here we go again. Be sure to check out the debut installment here.

This time around our tea-sipping castaway is Gail Gastelu, publisher of The Tea House Times. Many thanks to Gail for taking part.

Question:
If you were stranded on a desert island (an island with clean, fresh water and tea making equipment, of course) what one tea (only one) would you like to have with you and why?

Gail Gastelu's Answer:
I would choose an unflavored, high quality, loose leaf, green tea since it may be re-brewed a few times and still offer a fine, tasteful cup of tea--and thus my supply would hold up longer. Hopefully the island would have fruits and edible flowers to add to my brew for variety and a beautiful presentation.

Desert Island Tea 2 - Michael Cramer (Adagio Teas)

Good day, tea fans, and thanks for tuning in for the second installment of Desert Island Tea. If you missed the first one be sure to check it out here.

Our strandee this time around is Michael Cramer, the eminently helpful co-founder and marketing manager of Adagio Teas. Though they're based in New Jersey, Adagio go about the fine and honorable business of selling great teas and related whatnots from a parcel of Internet real estate located right here.

Question:
If you were stranded on a desert island (an island with clean, fresh water and tea making equipment, of course) what one tea (only one) would you like to have with you and why?

Michael Cramer's Answer:
Yunnan Gold Tea - The world's oldest tea and the reigning champion with my taste buds.

Desert Island Tea 1 Brian Smith (The Tea Smith)

Welcome to the first installment of a new feature - Desert Island Tea. From time to time I'll be badgering various tea fanciers, industry figures and so on, trying to get them to reveal what tea they'd want with them in the rather unlikely event that they're stranded on a desert island.

A difficult choice, to be sure, but our first participant seems to have come through the ordeal relatively unscathed. Tea lover Brian Smith serves, in his official capacity, as "Teavangelist" for The Tea Smith, a tea merchant with two locations in Omaha, Nebraska and a little corner of WWW-land located right here.

Many thanks to Brian for agreeing to take the first shift on our desert island.

Question:
If you were stranded on a desert island (an island with clean, fresh water and tea making equipment, of course) what one tea (only one) would you like to have with you and why?

Brian Smith's Answer:
I hesitate to put such a limit on my life, even if isolated. One of the greatest aspects of tea is the wide variety of flavors. That being said, I would take a Jade Oolong which I would carefully prepare in gong fu style since I would need to wring every last drop of every infusion from my presumably limited supply. The time alone would allow me to concentrate on the shifting profile of each short infusion. The interplay of floral tones and development of body would occupy my attention, to the neglect of an escape plan. After all, if you are cold, tea will warm you. If you are stranded, it will cheer you…