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, Phoenix dancong oolong

    2013 vs 2011

    Hello Sofina, this is a great question. No one can be 100% sure of how the 2013 will mature. However, given proper storage condition, we believe this stock will become a better tea in two year’s time than the 2011 batch now. We agree with you that there will be more tastes and thereby to mature into a fuller body and a mellowed down astringency. If you are interested in maturing this tea, we shall launch a new bigger pack size that will be more advantageous for maturing. Hopefully that’s before this batch is sold out. 😉

    Siu PB
  • Shiguping Wulong, rare Phoenix oolong

    A very special experience for a seasoned tea drinker who has been around the block with both Fenghuang and Taiwanese oolong.

    The experience this dancong offers is one that extends far beyond just what is possible to perceive in the cup. You may smell and taste one thing, but if you understand what this is, it will open your mind up to a completely unchartered territory that no other dancong can access, and no other vendor can offer. I have yet to find Wulong genetics elsewhere in a Western-facing market; and even if I could, I sincerely doubt the quality would be the same as what Tea Hong offers.

    In other words, this dancong is ridiculously good. What we have here is a genetic fork-in-the-road which represents a thousand-ish year old evolution of genetics that are separate from what normally defines Fenghuang oolong. This is not a Shui Xian hybrid… this is entirely different, and it shows across the full session.

    Creamy, buttery, exceptionally round and smooth with tons and tons of exquisite nuances, this harmonizes the subtleties that only the highest caliber dancong and Taiwanese high-mountain oolongs can bring into existence.

    It has the powerful minerality and complex mouthfeel that defines premium dancong, coupled with the graceful elegance that make Taiwanese high-mountain oolongs so desirable and expensive, in perfect equilibrium that both balances each other out and accentuates the differences in such a profound way that it becomes impossible to describe, and only possible to experience.

    You simply must try this.

    NN
  • Eight Immortals Wudong, Phoenix dancong oolong

    A bearer of of satisfaction and contentment in a cup, this BaXian is undoubtedly worthy of its namesake and high praise. Thank you for offering such an amazing tea!

    Chiam JY
  • Tieguanyin Classic, deep baked oolong

    This is a good example of baked Tieguanyin, it’s got good firing techniques coupled with good leaf material, and it’s pretty flexible in terms of how it can be brewed up. It always creates a deeply enjoyable cup of tea in the handful of times I’ve brewed it so far. This tea is going to be awesome in the fall and winter time – but even during the cooler days of the hot summer, which I’m in right now, it’s proven to be quite refreshing.

    I enjoy the way the soft floral and stronger fruity notes come to the forefront of the palate with each progressive sip, gently being supported by the clear notes of charcoal without ever becoming smothered by them. The baking accents the flavor profile and adds an interesting depth by bringing out a kind of fruity sweetness that is usually obliterated when the firing is taken too far… which is quite often, unfortunately.

    Anybody can burn a batch of tea leaves, either at too high a temperature or for too long, or perhaps even a combination of both – and call it a “high roast”, but this takes no skill to achieve. What does take skill to achieve, is a proper firing that elevates the inherent qualities of the tea leaf being processed. There are molecular changes to the constituents of the leaf that are induced by good firing techniques, and these are what create depth in sweetness and distinct accents in the floral and fruity layers of the flavor profiles, which is what I find in this Tieguanyin Classic.

    It’s nice to see an example of proper firing techniques in something priced superbly well for daily drinking. If you’re looking for a roasted Tieguanyin as your daily-drinker, this is a great choice.

    The leaf quality is fantastic, as these little nuggets unfurl slowly across both gong-fu and Western-style infusions, and across a wide temperature range, they are uniform and have some stoutness to them even after taking a long bath in water fresh off a rolling boil. They hold their composure well and resist turning bitter. Even as the cup cools, the tea remains crisp and clear in its flavor profile.

    NN