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:

  • Honey Orchid Supreme, classic Phoenix dancong oolong

    The fullness, complexity, and vibrancy of this particular dancong are what made me really fall in love with tea. Before it I was just very fond of tea. It really was Milan Xiang, particularly of this quality that totally hooked me to tea. That very night in the mountains in Phoenix, amongst the noise of the local Fenghuang dialect and clinking tableware in a local restaurant with the farmers and producers, I began to question myself, if I could help multinational corporations communicate their brands and products, why couldn’t I make such quality better understood? Why would coffee and wine have their social-economic role so widely accepted above and beyond this no less amazing product? Ironically, one of the projects on hand was helping the International Coffee Organisation to promote coffee in China. That was perhaps the point when tea was elevated in my plan from a side business to my full career. It was when we were still using the Nokia phone and film camera, when information was still passed on through the printed pages and I had to use html to create a webpage. That was 25 years ago. After all these years of learning and trading tea from many regions, Milan Xiang still has its very special place in my heart. It is still my dearest tea. And I still have a lot to do in promoting tea.

    Leo Kwan
  • Yiwu Large Leaf 2013, partially post-fermented Pu’er shengcha

    Very strong Qi, flavours are dark profiled but complex. Not the thickest tea but still thick enough to be enjoyable! Good everyday sort of tea! Dark enough to be enjoyed late at night, and very easy on the stomach.

    Shinzo Shiratori
  • Meizhan Classic, Wuyi yancha oolong

    My First Wuyi and What a Ride!

    Travel a scenic road and you never know what beauty awaits around the next bend. The same can be said of Meizhan Classic. It is full of surprises at every twist and turn. First, the dark and gnarly leaf sticks make music as they chime into the gaiwan. Water on the hotter side of Tea Hong’s suggested temperature range yielded a bouquet of violets growing on a wet forest floor.

    The fawn-colored liquor in a cha hai offered a second aroma: the promise of a ripe melon before it is cut. Tasting the tea gave yet another impression of chocolate mocha and clear quartz with linen-crisp notes that stayed at the juncture of the nose and throat – is it a smell or a taste or both?

    Subsequent infusions with slowly cooling water made Meizhan Classic a pure study in texture. Along with the faintest impression of field clover, this Wuyi delivered a joyride of round, buttery, creamy, silky indulgence. The journey ended with the pleasant appearance of the infused leaves, which unfurled into full, unbroken foliage accented with tinges of dark purple.

    Karen Ager
  • Shan Lin Xi, light style Taiwan oolong

    This is among the best Shan Lin Xi I’ve ever had. I’m not a connoisseur of Taiwanese oolongs to nearly the same extent that I am a fanatic for Fenghuang oolong, but I’ve been around the block many times and sampled all kinds of Shan Lin Xi with price points from $0.10/g to beyond $1.00/g – and I must say, without a doubt, this is top-tier quality at a price point that makes it a no-brainer.

    Even the most die-hard aficionados of Taiwanese oolongs could comfortably keep some of Tea Hong’s Shan Lin Xi in their stash.

    The flavor profile is exquisite, it oozes sweet and creamy overtones reminiscent of cinnamon-infused rice milk or coconut milk, with gentle herbaceous accents that remind me of rosemary or pine needles. It’s consistent all the way through and the aftertaste lingers persistently.

    This really hits the spot, it’s complex enough to impress those who are new to Taiwanese oolongs, as well as satisfy even the most discerning aficionados who want a great price to quality ratio daily-drinker that does not sacrifice quality in the cup.

    NN