Select a tea by category, region, taste or TCM character
At TeaHong.com, we try to put ourselves in our customers’ shoes. Different people have different priorities. Each sees the world differently. Naturally when it comes to selecting a tea, your criteria may not be the same as that of any other tea drinkers. That is why we group our tea products in different ways so you can see them in the context that is closest to how you think when selecting a tea.
Selection by Tea Category
The most common way to group different varieties of tea is by the category of processing method with which they are produced. Some call it Tea Classification, others Tea Categorisation. We think the later label is semantically more accurate.
Many connoisseurs and tea specialists organise their collections with this concept.
The above chart shows the five main categories: Green, Black, White, Pu’er ( Post-Fermentation ) and Oolong teas. Click the pie chart to browse the category of tea, click on your choice and enjoy the browse!
Need more info about a category before seeing the products? Here are some articles:
Selection by Taste
Teas are like raw gems. The true taste of each awaits the revelation made possible by the way you make it. Your personal need matters. It may change according to mood, time of the day, and occasions.
Experience and explore
Begin by tasting a few selections using various infusion styles to gain more specialist understanding of the finesses and differences. Relate this with your personal preferences and you will gradually carve out a direction in building your own repertoire of tea. This will be your very own line that best suits your taste and your needs. With repeated usage your senses and perceptions will deepen. This will empower you with the connoisseur skill to easily master yet more varieties to continue to gain levels in the vast world of tea.
Selection by TCM Characters
This is for those who understand the needs of answering the voice of the body. A well customised and balanced collection not only helps to maximise tea’s health benefits, but also tea’s gastronomic qualities. At Tea Hong, we categorise our collection by traditional Chinese medicinal character.
Information on a tea page
Detail information on each tea page includes a description, taste profile, infusion tips and a few properties described with icons. This article gives a general orientation in case you want to prepare yourself before browsing.
Customer Reviews
Yet another way to get an idea is to see how other customers see our products. Read a few random reviews they have posted in this site, and click on the link to go to the product page:
- amingberau
Alishan Guanyin, deep baked Taiwan oolong
Indeed the baking work done onto the tea is masterful, like that in the good old days when I started to develop my humble hobby of tea drinking when I began my earlier career in teaching in the early 1980’s. It was a time when mastery in tea baking was already a fading craft as the market was beginning to push for the dominance of green style oolongs. I was too young and too much an outsider to know whether it’s the decrease of good baking that cause the rise of green oolongs or whether it’s the push for green oolongs that dwindled the market for master tea bakers. As you said, green style oolongs are a fantastic category in itself, but a properly baked and fine oolong is something special to cherish, a sip that is like a hug in the soul.
Leo Kwan
Cream of Pu’er 2015, naturally formed shu cha tea nuggets
Smooth and sweet
Some other shu pu-erh may be smooth and sweet too, but this one also has richer taste than others I had before. My favourite pu-erh now it becomes.
Ai Han NgauCold Peak, matured Taiwan oolong
The roast on this Dong Ding is exquisite, and exemplifies what mastery in roasting is capable of achieving. This tea initially presents itself as being roast-forward, with the aroma of the wet leaf suggesting a charcoal-heavy experience awaits in the cup, but the broth itself is remarkably soft, round, and silky smooth all the way through, with very well-defined flavors that exist in perfect harmony with each other.
It’s floral, it’s fruity, and it gets a bit nutty with hints of sweet roots & dessert spices (licorice and cinnamon), especially in later steeps, but all the way through the body remains very supple and oily. It resists turning bitter or losing clarity in its flavor profile, even after a very long steep in freshly boiling water it remains incredibly thick and each individual flavor remains well-defined. The aftertaste lingers for a while and mouthfeel remains complex long after the soup has been swallowed.
The element which stands out most to me is just how sweet this tea is. It may be roast-forward in the aroma of the wet leaf, but it’s very much so sugar-forward in the cup, and all of the individual layers of flavor are held together by an element of sweetness that is pervasive across the tea, from the initial sip to the lingering sensations of the aftertaste.
NN
Jia Bing Hu: Reverse Handle Concubine
My teapot just arrived. I’m glad this Teapot arrived without being damaged. And indeed as I hope, the quality and material is very good. I am very satisfied. High Recommendation. Thanks Tea Hong. 👍