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:

  • Himalayan Finest Flowery, orthodox black tea

    Holiday Worthy

    With hands wrapped around a warming cup of Himalayan Finest Flowery, my thoughts turn to the approaching winter festivities. The tea’s distinctive aroma would mingle nicely with the scent of a balsam wreath hanging nearby. In addition to its woodsy notes, Himalayan Finest Flowery has a silky mouthfeel with hints of rosewater, kumquat and freshly grated nutmeg. Stomp the snow off your boots and come sit by the fire while I pour you some. Would you like a warm gingerbread man to go with it?

    Karen Ager
  • Celeste Green Chahai

    My favorite Chahai!

    First of all the design is beautiful with a nice painting on the ground and beautiful color.

    Due to the short, wide shape the tea liquor doesn’t move through a lot of air, making sure it’s not unnecessarily oxidized and does not loose much of its aroma and temperature. The material and the slightly more narrow opening keeps the liquid warm, especially if the teaware has been heated up before.
    The only wish I would have would be to make it slightly larger, with a capacity of slightly over 200ml so that it always has enough space for larger pots as well.

    Tobias D
  • Honey Orchid, Phoenix dancong oolong

    Yummy. I’ve tried both this and the Mi Lan Supreme, and while my inner tea snob prefers the Supreme, this less expensive version is still a very good example of Mi Lan Xiang and has an amazing price to quality ratio.

    The inherent honey and nectar-like characteristics are the focal point of the journey that unfolds over the course of a long and thoroughly enjoyable gong-fu session. Thick yet smooth, with a powerful mouthfeel and a graceful evolution of flavors and sensations across the full session, this one captures the essence of what makes Mi Lan Xiang among the most popular and most famous of all Fenghuang cultivars.

    It’s juicy, fruity, and peachy-sweet with an oily quality that sinks deeper and deeper into the palate with every sip. The undertones of honey get stronger as the cup cools, but it never loses the clarity and smoothness in the body even when the soup is left to cool down to room temperature. It maintains a consistently elegant flavor profile no matter how you brew it or how you drink it.

    I love the dynamic nature of this Mi Lan, it responds very well to being brewed up in the gong-fu style, but I actually prefer to brew this Western-style because you can see the full breadth and depth of flavors this tea has to offer in every sip. I could comfortably keep both this and the Mi Lan Supreme in my stash – the Supreme would be for gong-fu infusions, and this one would be for Western-style infusions.

    NN
  • Taiping Houkui Premium, green tea of shidaye cultivar

    A beautiful tea

    I heard about this only a few years ago. Before I bought it, I thought it maybe sth gimmick (just like those blossom tea; yeah, they may look beautiful in the water but taste nothing! Why waste money on sth tasteless?). However, this Taiping Houkui tastes much better than I expect. Though its depth is not as good as other green tea like longjing, it has its own character. And it is truly beautiful with its bright green colour! Lovely!

    kuk_chung_yan