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:
- Tea Hong
Taiping Houkui Traditional, green tea of shidaye cultivar
What an amazingly beautiful and supremely delicious green tea! I follow the brewing suggestion, adding 3-4 ice cubes on the bottom of a tall clay cup and brewing the leaves up with freshly boiled water. I’ve been brewing Taiping Houkui (and a few other teas, such as a green tea made from the “Zi Juan” cultivar) this way for 6+ years with no problems, the clay does not crack, and it produces a unique flavor profile that cannot be replicated any other way.
Tea Hong’s version is exquisite – a pinch less floral than what I’m used to, but the mouthfeel is much fuller and rounder, with an apricot-like fruitiness balancing out the notes of steamed vegetables & mung beans. There are undertones of spinach & broccoli, with some volatile aromatics that are pretty earthy and deeply satisfying.
The cha qi of this tea is powerful – it’s very invigorating and direct. Maybe all of the love and hard work that goes into producing every meticulously-crafted leaf of Tea Hong’s Taiping Houkui Traditional is captured within the leaves themselves, and somehow released once again during the brew, so that the drinker may enjoy a glimpse of what it took to create this one-of-a-kind of experience.
I particularly enjoy the detailed information that is available about this tea in Leo’s blog post. It’s amazing to contemplate the level of skilled craftsmanship required to manifest this tea while sipping on it simultaneously.
NN
Menghai Spring 2004, Pu’er shu cha
A fine Shu
Whether in the gaiwan or a common earthenware tea pot, this shu infuses dark and flavorful, sweet and inviting with no astringency to speak of. Re-infuses well even at 1g to 100ml ratio. Goes smoothly with savory meals and is very attractive on its own.
M.
Honey Orchid Supreme, classic Phoenix dancong oolong
Your wonderful writing
@Karen, I have to tell you how amused I am reading all these nicely written reviews you so kindly shared on this site. “I now mourn all the years I wasted drinking ‘shadow-of-tea-powder’ that comes in a typical western tea bag” What wonderful art of the word!
Oh yes, indeed, this Honey Orchid Supreme is a tea that many of my tea importer clients want “samples” for their own enjoyment, but quite rarely dare to sell by themselves!