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 Pearl Pekoe, fresh jasmine scented green tea

    方知此茶原貌

    我有十幾年做茶友的經驗,自然會去不同地方買茶。最初見到這隻小龍珠価錢計起來要70多元一両,有點貴,便沒有理會。上星期要送禮給一女性友人,知她喜歡茉莉花茶,見這裡可一包配二筒可成一盒小禮物,便買了一包桂花香單樅、一筒我最喜愛的龍井、及一筒這個小龍珠送她。打開禮物後她開心到不得了,說從未見過這樣大方簡樸又環保的茶葉包裝。雖然她沒有先開我最想向她介紹的正宗口味龍井,而是先開了小龍珠,但我反而連自己也覺得驚喜。因為我沒有想到原來茉莉花茶也可有這樣樣優雅品味的。那香不但沒有一般花茶庸俗的感覺,清香甜美而又持久,茶湯亦是出人意表地順滑豐富。早年初為茶道時,試過了不少類似東西,到今時今日,方知此茶的原貌。Leo, 謝謝你!

    Longjing 43
  • Song Cultivar, Phoenix dancong oolong

    Perfume for the palate

    Oh, the excitement when the Tea Hong box arrives! Song Cultivar was the first to be sampled after the un-boxing of my second shipment. The dry leaves make music as they tinkle into the gaiwan, blooming into a mass of plump foliage when brewed. The tea is clear and golden brown but tastes like a gray, misty day by a crackling fire. Deep and slightly bitter, it leaves a citrus-like perfume lingering on your palate.

    Karen Ager
  • Honey Orchid Supreme, classic Phoenix dancong oolong

    This tea is a mountain range of flavors, with distinct peaks all seamlessly integrated into a harmonious and nuanced experience that carries all of the depth you would expect of authentic old tree Mi Lan. The aroma coming off the dry leaf is vibrant and complex, hinting at the marvelous experience that awaits the drinker. I knew this was going to be an incredible experience before I even turned my kettle on.

    This one opens up with bright and sweet notes of sun-dried fruits, and a tropical dankness that is reminiscent of mango, guava, peaches, lychee, passionfruit, with a kind of electrical zing to it that reminds me of fresh-cut pineapples. These bright and tangy notes electrify the roof of the mouth and nostrils as they work their way up from the back of the throat.

    In every sip, this is a juicy and fruit-forward Mi Lan that is perfectly overlaid on top of a powerful and textured body, which has a woodsy quality to it that reminds me of walking through an old-growth forest on a hot, sunny day.

    You can’t miss the cong wei – it’s apparent and focused across the full session; even the washed-up leaves retain that woodsy-spicy-sweet fragrance that is just so attractive because of how well it sits in contrast against the insanely sweet and pungent notes of tropical fruits.

    The mouthfeel and texture are incredible – for having such powerful and distinct peaks of flavor, the body is very deep, the edges are very soft, and the individual notes integrate very well with each other, creating a very complex experience in every facet of the tea. The initial sip, the evolution of flavors on the palate, the lingering sweetness, all tell a cohesive story and that story is the life of healthy, old Mi Lan Xiang trees.

    The finish is elegant and the sweet aftertaste lingers for a long time, but what I appreciate most about this tea is how deep it sinks into every cell of my body, and how graceful the qi is. This is a tea that stays with me all day.

    What a phenomenal experience.

    NN
  • Black Leaf Special, Phoenix dancong oolong

    Wonderful Aroma

    I received “Black Leaf Special” as a sample, I thought should be this one. Infused it using gongfu parameters and I got a cup of wonderful aromatic tea. It resembled the green Tieguanyin (maybe because they are both green oolongs), but richer complexity with more pronounced honeylike sweetness and fruity fragrance. It is rather light in the mouth but leaves an immediate tangy fresh aftertaste. And based on the feel in my stomach, it really has a rather cool TCM properties. A very wonderful tea especially for the complex aroma.

    Teddy