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:

  • 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
  • Honey Orchid Supreme, classic Phoenix dancong oolong

    This tea sings

    There is not much I can add to the official description of this rare and fine tea. It is all the things described — mellow, floral tones, undulating earth tones. I have a bowl of Honey Orchid Supreme going at work today. The first two infusions delivered exactly what was promised. I poured water for my third infusion but got sidetracked into a meeting, so let it steep too long. Surprisingly, this “over-steeped” infusion was strong, yes, but never crossed the line into unpleasant bitterness. As described, it fully revealed itself with longer steeping. This tea is complex and a pleasure to drink. It will give you what you ask of it — a soft and mellow experience or a quizzical moment as you try to define its complexity with a stronger-brewed cup. Either way, it is sure to ping your happy place. Every tea from Tea Hong has delighted. I now mourn all the years I wasted drinking “shadow-of-tea-powder” that comes in a typical western tea bag. I can never go back to that now.

    Karen Ager
  • Bing Dao 2014, matured Pu’er shengcha cha bing

    Like an octopus that can change both the color and texture of its skin, so too does this tea represent a dynamic experience that shifts and flows in ways which seem impossible to capture… yet here we are.

    And like Mike Tyson, this Bing Dao has a powerful punch to it – it’s insanely strong and unbridled, drinking this tea makes me feel like there’s a balloon swelling in my brain. I can feel my heart beating behind my eyeballs. This really should come with a warning label – not for the faint of heart, but certainly for those who want to blast off to the moon.

    In terms of its overall flavor profile, it’s a bit more introverted and subtle than it is in-your-face, but the evolution of flavors is quite remarkable, and the clarity of the individual flavors is excellent despite their somewhat shy and introverted nature. I might not drink this for its flavor, but I definitely would drink it if I needed to melt a glacier in Antarctica with nothing but my body heat.

    The difference between how this tea opens up versus how it finishes is a beautiful thing to witness. The huigan is amazing, it’s planted firmly in the throat and sits there for a very long time. Make sure you sniff the bottom of an empty cup as it cools, especially in the first half of a gong-fu session… it’s sublime. It presents a totally different set of aromatics than what the broth contains.

    A whole cake is but a single sample – this tea really is that complex.

    Did I mention this thing is a qi monster? This is a completely different realm of sensations and feelings than what most teas are capable of achieving. Bing Dao is known for that, and this particular offering from Tea Hong really hits the spot. Pun intended – I’m tea drunk, in case you can’t tell.

    Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to go sprint run a marathon in the middle of winter.

    NN
  • 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