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:

  • Cassia Extraordinaire, Wuyi yancha oolong

    What a stunning aromatic oolong

    I just prepared gongfu style a sample that I got for my business in Chile and I needed to write about it: what a wonderful aroma comes out from this tea. It’s made me feel like the famous Lu Tung’s quote “I am not interested in immortality, excepting for the taste (smell must I say) of tea.”

    Patricio Hurtado
  • Black Leaf Special, Phoenix dancong oolong

    Gripping aroma

    What a wonderful aroma comes out from this tea leaves after the first infusion: subtly cream undertone with a marvelous sun dried peach, tangerines and flowers. I have enjoyed them as much as their infusion. Really extraordinary. Highly recommended for those who likes dried (non fruity taste) tea.

    Patricio Hurtado
  • Celeste Green Chahai

    This comment has actually inspired us of an idea of developing a line of teaware for larger serving. Thank you!

    Tea Hong
  • Orchid Gratus, Phoenix dancong oolong

    What a magnificent example of Xing Ren. I compared this directly against six other Xing Ren, all from different vendors – two of which were competition grade, one of them allegedly won second place in 2022 at the Chaozhou Tea King Competition, or something like that. Living in the United States makes it difficult to confirm such things, I suppose it comes down to trusting your vendors…

    Anyways, Tea Hong’s Orchid Gratus stands out as being right up there with the competition-grade and old-bush Xing Ren that I sampled, both of which are literally two and a half times more expensive per gram. This one has all of the right overlap in all of the correct places, but also carries with it some unique attributes that make this feel like an elevated expression of Xing Ren.

    Honestly, I’d rather have Orchid Gratus over the two competition-grade Xing Ren. It’s clear that the active phases of the processing; such as the baking, were executed perfectly, and also the resting phase, where patience is required for the maocha to catch up to the masterful techniques applied to it. This is the real deal, whoever made this tea is exceptionally skilled.

    As a result of the expert-level crafting, the flavor profile is exquisite. To me, it tastes like vanilla-bean infused plums and seared pineapple flesh, soaked in apple juice and then caramelized in a pan with herbaceous spices like star anise or fennel seed. As the flavor profile melts away, I’m left with distinct overtones of honey drenched florals that linger in the aftertaste for a long time, along with a pleasant minerality that is characteristic of high-end dancong.

    There’s a lot going on, and the soft edges this tea has make for a very pleasant overlap in the flavors that accentuates the whole experience as they mingle with one another. The texture is buttery-smooth and the mouthfeel is exceptionally rich; it brings with it a kind of pungency that creates a very expansive and long-lasting aftertaste with undertones of stewed and spiced apples. The aftertaste has its own complex and unique set of characteristics which sink very deeply into the palate, and make for an unforgettable experience.

    NN