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:

  • Hong Yu Deep White, deep oxidation Taiwan white tea

    A lovely, complex, and vibrant white tea, with so many layers of flavor and well-defined nuances that it’s really difficult to describe. You have to try this tea in order to understand what it tastes like.

    It’s sweet, smooth, and herbaceous, with malty undertones and minty overtones. It’s silky as it glides across the palate, and brings a cooling sensation that is unique. Within a matter of a couple seconds, that deceptively smooth soup explodes into a flavor bomb that lasts for several minutes on the palate and creates a very deep and rich aftertaste.

    This tea is also remarkably flexible, and responds well to a variety of different brewing techniques. I’ve brewed it up gong-fu style, Western-style, and I’ve even used other methods that some purists would say are blasphemous – but the real beauty of this tea is in its ability to return some of the most delicious cups of tea you’ll ever have regardless of how you brew it up.

    A must-try if you’re looking for a complex and sophisticated experience in the category of white tea.

    NN
  • Yiwu Large Leaf 2013, partially post-fermented Pu’er shengcha

    Black Earth; Red Fruit

    If you treat Yiwu right, it will oblige with a smooth, obsidian-black elixir of earth, mineral and fog. In a word: rarefied.

    The first few raven-dark cups gave way to a mahogany red color on subsequent infusions. The bold, earthy mist evolved to reveal a rich, mingled impression of truffle and cherry.

    I wish I’d known this sooner. A caddy of Yiwu Large Leaf has been sitting in the back of my cupboard for months, neglected and misunderstood. Yiwu, it was me, not you!

    My one previous uninspired tasting was the result of skimping on the tea as well as miscalculation of water temperature and infusion time. I’ve now corrected those variables after a double blanching. What a remarkable difference.

    Do all Shengcha pu’ers have this broad range of color and taste? I want to find out. And thanks, Yiwu Large Leaf, for not saying, “I told you so.”

    Karen Ager
  • Snow Orchid, bouquet Phoenix dancong oolong

    OMG!!!!!

    Until now I have never known what they mean by fine tea! I don’t know how to write such flowery reviews but I have to tell you that this tea really is something big for me. It’s a total knock out! If this is what tea really is, all the others I have drunk were nothing! I can tell you that. Now I can understand why some tea here cost more. Such wonderful aroma, such taste, such silkiness. I am totally hooked.

    Peter Zachnovochi
  • Phoenix Classic, dancong oolong

    I ordered 2018 Classic Phoenix and my friend really liked it.

    hads218