The MountTea Journal

Find your tea.
Make it your ritual.

Simple beginnings, better brewing, and stories behind the leaves. Explore Chinese and Taiwanese tea, one cup at a time.

Choose your tea

Tea with separate dishes of dried longan, nuts and leaves
Guide 9 · Choose your tea

How to Choose Tea by Flavour

Translate familiar flavours into a useful tea shortlist. Learn the difference between tasting notes, added flavourings, body, roast and sweetness.

2 min read
Five contrasting tea samples in a divided walnut tea scoop
Guide 12 · Choose your tea

What to Try Next: Your Tea Discovery Map

Choose your next tea through meaningful contrasts: fresh versus aged, floral versus roasted, or two origins within a familiar style.

2 min read
Flat green Long Jing leaves spilling from a bamboo scoop
Guide 17 · Choose your tea

Chinese Green Tea: A Fresh Starting Point

Choose Chinese green tea by processing, harvest and flavour. Brew Long Jing with a measured recipe and recognise freshness without judging colour alone.

3 min read
Twisted red tea leaves with golden tips and copper coloured infusion
Guide 18 · Choose your tea

Chinese Red Tea: Sweetness, Warmth and Body

Understand hong cha, the Chinese red tea family called black tea in English. Compare Yunnan styles and brew for sweetness without overextracting.

3 min read
Rolled green oolong and roasted strip shaped oolong side by side
Guide 20 · Choose your tea

Oolong Tea Explained: From Floral to Roasted

Navigate oolong through oxidation, roast and leaf shape. Compare light high mountain styles with roasted teas using recipes suited to each.

3 min read
Sheng and shu pu-erh tea pieces with golden and red brown infusions
Guide 21 · Choose your tea

Sheng vs Shu Pu-erh: What’s the Difference?

Understand raw and ripe pu-erh as different processing routes. Learn what age and storage do, how to brew a first sample, and what to ask before buying.

2 min read

More from the journal

How to Choose Ripe Pu-erh With Confidence
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How to Choose Ripe Pu-erh With Confidence

Learn how to choose ripe pu-erh by assessing aroma, leaf quality, age, storage and flavour, then find a shu pu-erh that suits your taste.

8 min read
Plain sample pouches with contrasting loose leaf teas and a green cup
Choose your tea

Where to Buy Chinese Tea Online in Portugal

Buy Chinese tea online in Portugal with confidence. Explore loose-leaf pu-erh, oolong, white tea and gongfu teaware for your daily tea ritual.

7 min read