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:

  • Eternal Spring, floral winter oolong

    A very soft and round oolong with plenty of depth to appreciate. Don’t let its silky texture or its remarkable resistance to high temperatures & long steep times fool you – this is actually quite a complex gastronomical experience, one that is ridiculously easy to brew up.

    I find the focal point of this tea to be its silky-smooth, buttery-soft body… it’s just such a thick and luscious sensation that greets you right when you take a sip, and hangs out on the palate even long into the aftertaste.

    In terms of the flavor profile, I get overt and thick notes of mango flesh – bright, fresh, tropical and dank, with sweet undertones of plums and berries, plus soft hints of spices like cinnamon or nutmeg. The thick note of mango flesh is intertwined with the buttery-smooth body of this tea, the two seem inseparable in the cup, and even the lingering sweetness in the aftertaste these two notes continue to be present in unison.

    The aroma coming off the bottom of an empty cup, as its cooling, has a distinct herbaceous quality to it, reminiscent of sweet pine, rosemary, and sage. There’s some pineapple fruitiness in there somewhere too.

    The leaf quality is superb. The leaves are quite large, processed very uniformly, and not over-compressed. They unfurl slowly and reveal thick, full leaves that were clearly handled well in every step of the making of this tea.

    This is very complex oolong – especially considering Si Ji Chun is a rather generic cultivar. It’s popular because, as its name suggests, it can be harvested in all four seasons which makes it ideal for mass production in all of Taiwan’s tea-growing regions. The market is saturated with Si Ji Chun that, at best, is acceptable quality. It’s difficult to find truly exceptional representations of a cultivar that is ultimately intended for mass production.

    This, however, is about as premium as Si Ji Chun gets. The price is quite humble considering this tea is a flavor bomb that is impossible to over-brew. However you brew it up you’re likely going to have a really good cup.

    NN
  • Song Cultivar, Phoenix dancong oolong

    Special Tea

    A deep citrus flavor pervades the mouth that carries through for endless brews. Huigan is huge and long lasting. The tea has some power and quick infusions bring out its smoothness and good mouthfeel. This was a treat!

    Jeffrey Novick
  • Winter Alishan Jinxuan, bouquet style Taiwan oolong

    Right when I opened the bag, I knew this was going to be an amazing experience. The aroma of the dry leaf is pungent and sweet, with just a pinch of woodsy undertones to add balance to what is undoubtedly a creamy, velvety tea.

    The next thing I noticed was just how big these leaves are – these are not tiny pebbles, they are more like boulders. The leaves are HUGE! As they brew up they unfurl into thick and wholesome leaves that stretch out several inches. I am very impressed by the uniformity of the plucking and processing as well. The leaves are rolled tight, but not so tight as to make them brittle.

    In every aspect of the flavor profile, this tea is dripping with milky-sweet flavors that carry a kind of oily-spicy quality to it that reminds me of fennel or anise, as mentioned in the description. This adds a gentle vibrancy that cuts through the rich and decadent, milk-forward flavor profile, and creates a sense of balance that keeps this tea intriguing every time it’s brewed up.

    This tea is easy to brew and very forgiving, it resists turning sharp or bitter, and has lots of stamina so whether you brew it gong-fu or Western-style, you will easily get some of the best “milk oolong” you could ever hope for.

    NN
  • Danhu Old Bush Song Cultivar, Phoenix dancong oolong

    This is a very fantastic tea. I usually like the more fruity Dan Congs, such as the Eight Immortals Wudong or the Huangzhi Xiang Classic and have tried some more fruity Song Zhong from other sellers. But this tea, even though it doesn’t have the strong fruitiness that I usually enjoy so much, still makes me appreciate this tea even more for its very pleasant taste which I would probably describe as vanilla pinewood with a very pleasant sweetness. This tea has a very long and pleasant aftertaste and during the session the whole room fills with the unique smell of this tea.
    But I think what makes this tea so unique for me is that its taste has a certain calm wisdom to it. Drinking this tea almost feels like a form of mediation that directs my thoughts inwards and makes me think about the things in life that truly matter. I don’t think any other tea I’ve drunk so far has so much wisdom in its taste. This works very well with the calming body sensation that this tea brings during the session. It is a gem in my tea collection that really has the perfect balance.
    I prefer to brew it using 3g in a 100ml clay pot at 95°C, increasing the temperature to 99°C for the later infusions to get more out of the leaves.

    Tobias D