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:

  • Eight Immortals Wudong, Phoenix dancong oolong

    My friend recommend this tea to me and I really thank him. The tea gives me the impression as if eight immortals are gathered around a place and enjoying their lives

    hads218
  • Wenshan Paochong, light style Taiwan oolong

    Thank you for sharing your experience. As a general guidance, it is not desirable to infuse tea using 15 seconds unless the leaves are quite broken or cut. To understand the taste profile of most green style Taiwan oolongs such as Paochong, which are generally more delicate, 5 g to 150 ml water for 40 seconds is a good starting point. Adjust to personal taste. Use near boiling water, as suggested in the infusion tips. For a good general reference, please visit: https://www.teaguardian.com/tea-hows/gongfu-infusion-parameters-general/ where Leo has made a list of different groups of teas with respective infusion parameters.

    Tea Hong
  • Longjing Traditional Supreme, hand-roasted green tea

    This deserves Tea Master’s Choice

    I have purchased both this and Longjing First Flush to compare taste. I did it once by myself and once with my customers (yes, I do have a few now!) and we all agree that this is smoother and richer than LJFF. The latter is sharper in taste and maybe liked by some. I also did it once using a yixing teapot, as Leo recommends in this article: http://teaguardian.com/tea-selection-guide/green-tea-longjing.html, and we unanimously agree this is the most flavorful Longjing we have had so far!

    Manila Tran
  • Eight Immortals Wudong, Phoenix dancong oolong

    After trying many many different kinds of Dan Cong, this Ba Xian is by far my personal favorite. It is very fruity but still has a great body to its taste and sweet after taste. When I meet with friends or colleagues, I often brew some of this tea for them and always look into very happy faces of my guests who are very surprised that tea can taste THIS good.

    Tobias D