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:

  • Phoenix Sweet Osmanthus, traditional flower scented oolong

    After having tried all of the other Fenghuang oolong in Tea Hong’s catalog, I knew I had to pick up a bag of this. I’m not a big fan of scented teas; but if this was to be anything like the other dancong in the catalog, then I knew it would be a good experience.

    Gui Hua is one of my favorite cultivars, and a good unscented version is hard to find – who knows, maybe one day Tea Hong will carry one 🙂

    I find that; with most scented dancong, the experience doesn’t end up being cohesive… it’s almost like the evolution of flavors moves the two ingredients in separate directions, creating a general lack of harmony in the cup. The front-end is too muted and the back-end is too thin, with a relatively weak middle that isn’t very expansive or deep. For this reason, scented dancong usually doesn’t hit the spot for me.

    This, however, is totally different. The depth of flavor is excellent, with an oily mouthfeel that conveys the characteristic Fenghuang minerality quite well. It’s easily the deepest and most intricately layered version of a scented dancong I’ve come across, with a harmonized integration between the Mi Lan base material and the osmanthus flowers. It’s got excellent strength in the aftertaste, with very long-lasting notes of osmanthus and undertones of honey-soaked lychee. There are some soft bites of citrus fruits which bring some brightness to the flavor profile and a kind of clarity to the minerality.

    Overall a very enjoyable experience.

    NN
  • Danhu Old Bush Song Cultivar, Phoenix dancong oolong

    It took some time for me to fully understand this tea since there are many more aspects to research and enjoy.
    It is complex but simple. The citrus note takes the center of the stage at all movements. Aroma, taste, mouthfeel, aftertaste and even the body sensation from it’s force are resemble to my experiences with good citrus fruits. This tea can dive deep and pull me to the bottom of my mind and bring enjoyment from the ground up.

    This tea is the cornerstone of my life experience and it will always find its place in my heart.

    Danupon S.
  • Honey Orchid Supreme, classic Phoenix dancong oolong

    A True Delight to Taste & Smell Senses!
    There are a few teas that truly delight the senses. This is one of them! The tasting notes are varied, blending on top of one another, subtle and yet distinctive.

    Jeffery Leong
  • Moon Drops Himalayas, deep oxidation Nepali white tea

    This is quite a special gastronomic experience, the evolution of flavors is remarkably intricate and thoroughly enjoyable from the initial aroma of the dry leaf, all the way through to the last wafts of fragrance I can lift off the bottom of the final, empty cup. You found something unique here. I brewed up the sample using my new Rural Life gaiwan, using a 1:20 ratio, and then right afterwards I brewed it up again Western-style in a larger mug with a 1:100 ratio. Both methods returned some of the most enjoyable and satisfying cups of Himalayan tea I’ve ever had.

    I first started exploring Himalayan teas approximately 10 years ago, but never really took a deep-dive, for the same reason that I never fully dove into pu’erh… because Fenghuang oolong captured me with its infinite beauty. That being said; just like with pu’erh, I’ve also been fortunate enough to have the opportunity to source amazing Himalayan teas directly from farmers and co-operatives who grow ultra-premium, top-notch tea. Moon Drops matches, if not exceeds, what I have come to expect from the absolute best of the Himalayan region.
     
    I can taste the influence of both the Jinxuan and Yabukita cultivars. This is a special phenotype; this hybrid retains the thick creaminess and umami-heavy mouthfeel which both cultivars are prized for, and does so in a way that overlays the terroir of the Himalayas seamlessly, which gives rise to a unique yet familiar set of flavors that I’ve come to know and love from this region. I feel like this selection was specific and intentional…
     
    The evolution of flavors in both of my sessions was very complex. Moon Drops opened up with some notes of squash blossoms, zucchini bread, and distinctly sweet overtones of muscat grapes, the likes of which even the most premium Darjeeling would be jealous of. It’s malty and starchy, in the best of ways. As the sessions progressed, there were some herbaceous & spicy notes that came out to play, which were reminiscent of white peppercorn and sage leaf with some floral, lavender-like qualities… oily, thick, lubricating, resinous and long-lasting on the palate, yet perfectly juxtaposed against delicate and nuanced flavors that should be impossible to achieve, but clearly aren’t. As I said earlier: wow. This tea brought forth a complex olfactory experience that escapes definition, and that is what I personally seek out.

    Towards the end of the sessions, as my steep times became longer and the water temperature moved closer to a freshly rolling boil, I detected sweet and distinct notes of caramelized almonds that lingered on the palate for a long time before gradually subsiding. There was a distinct mouthfeel that was coupled to the flavor profile, which added another layer of enjoyment to the experience.

    This truly is a complex tea in every facet… from the intense bright-gold color of the soup to the powerful and stimulating sensations that it imparts in the body, and everything in-between. I particularly enjoyed how clean, crisp, brisk and smooth this tea was… to say I thoroughly enjoyed it is an understatement. Thank you for all that you do to make tea like this possible to experience.

    NN