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

    Now I understand a bit about tea maturity

    I have heard about it but this is the first tea that has made me experience the interesting thing about tea maturity. I bought the first pack in 2012 because I had read about Leo’s name in a tea merchant’s catalogue here in Switzerland. It was great taste and good value, but when I opened a second pack that I bought last month, the aroma of the leaves instantly tell me it had already become something else. The sweetness was less obvious but much deeper with a prominent ‘woodsy’ tone. The infusion much deeper and mellow and the taste longer. There is something dancing on the taste buds that I don’t think I can write even in German. Maybe it is music in tea taste.

    I am just so disappointed that it is sold out now. I hope the new stock will mature to the same wonders!

    TR
    Zurich

    tjrr
  • Bing Dao 2014, matured Pu’er shengcha cha bing

    Like an octopus that can change both the color and texture of its skin, so too does this tea represent a dynamic experience that shifts and flows in ways which seem impossible to capture… yet here we are.

    And like Mike Tyson, this Bing Dao has a powerful punch to it – it’s insanely strong and unbridled, drinking this tea makes me feel like there’s a balloon swelling in my brain. I can feel my heart beating behind my eyeballs. This really should come with a warning label – not for the faint of heart, but certainly for those who want to blast off to the moon.

    In terms of its overall flavor profile, it’s a bit more introverted and subtle than it is in-your-face, but the evolution of flavors is quite remarkable, and the clarity of the individual flavors is excellent despite their somewhat shy and introverted nature. I might not drink this for its flavor, but I definitely would drink it if I needed to melt a glacier in Antarctica with nothing but my body heat.

    The difference between how this tea opens up versus how it finishes is a beautiful thing to witness. The huigan is amazing, it’s planted firmly in the throat and sits there for a very long time. Make sure you sniff the bottom of an empty cup as it cools, especially in the first half of a gong-fu session… it’s sublime. It presents a totally different set of aromatics than what the broth contains.

    A whole cake is but a single sample – this tea really is that complex.

    Did I mention this thing is a qi monster? This is a completely different realm of sensations and feelings than what most teas are capable of achieving. Bing Dao is known for that, and this particular offering from Tea Hong really hits the spot. Pun intended – I’m tea drunk, in case you can’t tell.

    Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to go sprint run a marathon in the middle of winter.

    NN
  • Oriental Beauty, deep oxidation Taiwan oolong

    This is a very elegant tea with wonderful mouthfeel. Just when you think that you couldn’t be further impressed by a similar high quality oolong tea, Oriental Beauty comes along! Its namesake cannot be more appropriate. I brewed gongfu style according to Tea Hong’s recommendations and managed 6 brews, increasing the brewing time for the 5th and 6th brews.

    Jeffery Leong
  • 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