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:

  • Alishan Guanyin, deep baked Taiwan oolong

    This is the best Tie Guan Yin I’ve ever had, made even better by the fact it’s from Alishan.

    I searched high and low for another vendor that sold anything similar to this and all of them were over roasted/baked. It was like drinking an ashtray.

    This stuff however? Amazing. If I had to pick a tea to drink every day for the rest of my life it would have to be this.

    Andres Amor
  • Honey Pearl Pekoe, fresh jasmine scented green tea

    Amazing scent of jasmine and a wonderful green tea

    Believe me, this is better than walking in a jasmine garden coz I have done it before when the flowers were in full bloom. This tea smells cleaner, yet a lot more fragrant! The taste of the green tea is gentle, smooth and complex. I have never had any green tea tasting so sophisticated. This is a most awesome tea experience for me.

    Peter Zachnovochi
  • Shèmen Dancong Double Baked, Phoenix dancong oolong

    This is old style dancong for sure. It’s amazing to me that such a vivid and apparent transformation in the flavor profile is captured as flawlessly as it is here, with so much nuance and clarity between the crisp high notes and the ultra-smooth body.

    On the initial sip, a powerful sensation grips the tongue and creates a lively mouthfeel that has rocky minerality to it, but is not metallic. Within a matter of seconds after swallowing the soup, this strong minerality melts away and reveals a beautiful symphony of flavors, all perfectly orchestrated and seemingly emanating out from that rocky minerality.

    Maybe that’s what “music from the rock” means – and if so, this is a brilliant example of a rare quality not found in many dancong nowadays. More modern processing techniques are not focused on bringing such a characteristic out, and while they can be good overall, they can also be lacking yan-yun entirely.

    The way the mouthfeel builds progressively is beautiful – so many layers of flavor are possible to explore because this tea has such a deep and round body. I get overt undertones of plums, lychee, almonds, and a kind of spice that is reminiscent of toasted coriander seed, plus all kinds of subtle sensations like licorice root and citrus fruits, some of which sparkle on the palate and feel electrifying, and others which weave in and out so softly they are barely detectable, yet so refined once I sense them.

    This is glorious. What a rare and complex experience. If you want something special; not only in its flavor profile, but also for the tradition it represents, and the nearly thousand-year-old history it perfectly exemplifies, then this is definitely the right choice!

    NN
  • Alishan Guanyin, deep baked Taiwan oolong

    Like return to old days

    This guanyin like I drank with father when I was a boy. Sweet memories total recalled. I search east and I search west, until I found this. Very delicious good taste

    Ai Han Ngau