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:

  • Himalayan Finest Flowery, orthodox black tea

    Great Strong Character

    I first tried this with 2g in 100mL gaiwan for 5 minutes. The aroma reminds me of traditional style phoenix oolong. In the mouth as well, it has this flowery/fruit-like character, though of course not as prominent as those of oolongs. As I drank, I also found certain similarities with white tea (Zhenghe). Combine them with the strong taste (at this parameter I felt it was a little bit too bitter, perhaps 4.5 minutes would be perfect), you have a tea which will easily impress people who have only tasted low quality tea all their lives. Long aftertaste with tangy citrus feel on your tongue.

    Teddy Lionel
  • Bulang Old Tree 2011, Pu’er shu cha bing

    This is a very clean and pristine shu, I’m surprised by both its general roundness and its specific nuances as well. It’s very approachable for newcomers and aficionados alike.

    I’ve brewed this up pretty much every way it can be brewed up, from gong-fu style in a Yixing teapot using a 1:10 ratio all the way to a 24-hour long thermos brew using a 1:100 ratio, and water fresh off a rolling boil.

    When I brew this up gong-fu style, it becomes more earthy – it reminds me of the aroma of an old-growth forest after a thunderstorm, it has something very addictive and primal about it and I find it very satisfying.

    In a thermos, I find the cong wei becomes more focused after a long brew (12+ hours) – it’s a bit incense-like, with notes of moss, bark, and spices that gently lift up the rest of the flavor profile.

    Regardless of how it’s brewed up, I always get notes of mint leaf, monk fruit, longan, dark cherries, and I’m sure the more I drink it the more I will discover.

    I don’t drink very much shu pu’er but I’ll always have some of this around. The price is amazing… $40 for a cake of old-tree Bulang that has over 10 years of immaculate storage on it? Only at Tea Hong.

    NN
  • Wudong Cassia, Phoenix dancong oolong

    There! Indeed you do know about Phoenix oolongs. In the “medicine” aroma group of Fenghuang Dancong, there are also Jiang Mu Xiang and Xing Ren Xiang. Another customer, N.N., who also commented on this tea has mentioned Jiang Mu Xiang, which I was incidentally enjoying a private batch this morning with my wife, but have not decided yet whether to carry it. The same dilemma as I have previously mentioned, whether to offer it at a quality level that I truly enjoy as a tea lover, or making more commercial sense to maintain a sustainable profit. As for Xing Ren Xiang, you have already given your fantastic comments in the Orchid Gratus page in a review last year. And I thank you again.

    Leo Kwan
  • Red Jade, Taiwan TTES#18 black tea

    Smooth and minty

    This is a wonderful Ruby 18. It is very smooth, with a strong minty taste. Just what I was hoping for. High quality stuff.

    Richard Deitz