A Few Ways to Select a Tea

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

Selection by
Tea Region

Selection by
Taste Preference

Selection by
TCM Character

Our Tea Master’s personal favourites

Before doing your own selections, you may also want to check out what our Tea Master’s very own favourites here.

Or refer to his best loved oolongs here:

by random order

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:

Our tea regions

Fenghuang / Phoenix

Tea farmer withering tea leaves in the afternoon sun

Huangshan/ Anhui

Tea picking on the hill side terrace

Minnan-Mindong, Fujian

Wang's peak farm

Nepal, the Himalayas

Tea Regions of TeaHomg.com: Nepal / Himalayas

Taiwan

Master Li talks about ant problem in his wild Red Jade tea field

Wuyi-shan

A tea field in Wuyi

Yunnan

Thick linen are being put on piles of tealeaves for post-fermentation in Yunnan

Zhejiang

Tea Hong: Finest Hand-roasted Green tea: Longjing Spring Equinox

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.

tasting

Tasting is the ultimate way to learn about a tea

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.

Check out trending best sellers

If all these other ways of thinking about how to select a tea are not for you, perhaps you can see what other people are buying. These are some of what’s trending now:

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:

  • GABA Orange Extra, de-oxygenised oxidation Taiwan oolong

    Brief (few seconds) steeps in 90 Celcius water.
    Liquor is a clear golden brown in visual.
    Taste is of a sweet smoke in aroma with a sweet spice aftertaste.
    If you let it cool down a bit, the sweet aftertaste is more pronounced.
    A slight dryness to the mouthfeel.
    Empty cup leaves an aromatic sweet smell of burnt sugar.
    Wet leaves are brown-black in tone, giving off a dark baked bread aroma.
    This tea withstands so many steeps, and I think bold enough in flavour to be made into iced tea.

    rudi hermawan
  • April Mist, traditional green tea

    Excellent fresh “clouds and mist” green tea

    Tianshan April Mist (“Wild Bush Yunwu”): This is a green tea of the yunwu (“clouds and mist”) type. The pictures show a tea with vividly deep green leaves, twisted into small curls. Since it is a yunwu type and the description uses words like strong, bright, and sharp, it grabbed my attention immediately. Leo says that this tea is, “for those who prefer strength in their green tea rather than soft, rounder tastes.” That sounds like me, so this was the tea that I anticipated the most. I was surprised when I opened the container – the smell is very fresh and pungent, but not in a bad way. In fact, the dry leaves have a stronger smell than any other green teas I have had. The infusion is a lively light green, and gives a brisk but full-bodied, fresh, and flavorful taste. It really brings those bright “green tea” qualities to the foreground. I am really fascinated by this tea, which has such an unassuming appearance. Since trying this tea for the first time, it has become my “go to” green tea. As a bonus, its status as a “clouds and mist” green tea makes me feel like I’m drinking tea with Taoist hermits deep in the mountains. 😉

    pancakes
  • White Peony Classic Long, traditional white tea

    My First White Tea

    This was the first time I drink white tea and I was actually quite surprised upon opening the packaging. It smelled sweet like cookies/biscuits? I wouldn’t have guessed that it was the smell of tea.
    I infused it using gongfu parameters in a gaiwan and the aroma of the infusion was the same sweet one. However it didn’t taste like that at all, I got impressions of green tea although a bit faint, and the sweet aftertaste is unlike the creamy sweet aroma. It was really refreshing and light, yet interesting enough because of the long aftertaste and some astringency (I like my tea somewhat astringent because if it is not, I would feel like it is too watery).
    And it’s true that this tea is easy to infuse, it is difficult to go wrong unless you infuse it for way too long because then it will taste bitter. Really nice to drink all day.

    Teddy Lionel
  • 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!

    Tea Hong