For Those Who Don’t Usually Drink Tea
For people who do not usually drink tea, we recommend teas where bitterness and astringency stay in the background and the flavor does the work.
Most of what puts people off tea is astringency and a grassy note. Both can be kept almost entirely out through the quality of the leaf and the way it is processed. The teas here have gentle astringency and can be drunk for their flavor, the way black tea and oolong are. They also work as a gift when you don't know what the recipient likes.
For Those Who Don’t Usually Drink Tea
Anxi Se Zhong 安渓色種
An oolong combining several Anxi cultivars so that each draws out the others' aroma and finish. A concentrated sweet aroma of dried fruit and caramel, alongside florals.
From $4.00 USD (30g)
Yunnan Ancient black tea 雲南古樹紅茶 杏蜜香
A black tea made from the first spring flush, plucked one bud and one leaf. It carries both an Uva-like menthol note and the honey aroma of a honey-scented black tea, and pairs superbly with milk.
From $7.00 USD (20g)
Tsukigase Black Tea Benihikari 月ヶ瀬紅茶 ベニヒカリ
A black tea from Beni Hikari, grown without agrochemicals or fertiliser in Tsukigase, Nara. Bright aromas of muscat, pineapple and honey, a faint menthol note, and a long finish.
From $8.00 USD (30g)
Spring Oriental Beauty 蜜香黄金芽
A fine Oriental Beauty made only from young spring leaves heavily bitten by leafhoppers. An overwhelmingly bright, concentrated muscatel flavour with a sweet aftertaste.
From $33.00 USD (15g)
Lapsang Souchong Hua Xiang 正山小種 花香
An unsmoked Lapsang Souchong made from the native varietal (qizhong) grown at around 1,100m in Tongmu village. Finished at a lower fermentation than the qizhong, giving ripe-fruit aromas of flowers, peach and mango.
From $14.00 USD (20g)
Phoenix Oolong Mi Lan Xiang Nong Xiang 2026 No.1 鳳凰単叢 蜜蘭香濃香 2026 No.1
Nong Xiang is a finishing style that is very popular in China. As the name suggests, it is characterized by an intense aroma.
From $10.00 USD (15g)
Phoenix Oolong Lao Cong Mi Lan Xiang 2021 鳳凰単叢 老欉蜜蘭香 2021
From old trees over 80 years old at 950m. A sweet lychee-like aroma with bright florals, deepened by five years of ageing into a dark-aroma Mi Lan Xiang.
From $17.00 USD (15g)
Ali Shan Cha 阿里山茶
One of the high-mountain teas we recommend most among HOJO's Taiwanese oolongs. Qing Xin oolong from a garden at 1,600m, finished by the difficult medium-fermentation method to draw out a bright aroma of citrus and ripe fruit.
From $10.00 USD (30g)
Ali Shan Jin Xuan Oolong Tea 阿里山金萱烏龍茶
An oolong made from the Jin Xuan cultivar, grown in a garden at 1,500m in Alishan. Its floral, milky aroma has made it rapidly popular in Taiwan in recent years.
From $9.00 USD (30g)
Oriental Beauty 東方美人
Taiwan's own heavily fermented oolong. Young shoots bitten by leafhoppers give it a strong muscat-like honey note and ripe fruit. Recommended to black tea drinkers, and good with desserts or cold-brewed.
From $12.00 USD (15g)
Yunnan Gong Fu Black tea 雲南功夫紅茶
A menthol aroma touched with honey, over floral notes. Fully fermented yet entirely free of stewed odours, with a long finish. Superb with milk and recommended for iced tea.
From $8.00 USD (30g)
Dong Ding Oolong Qing Xiang 凍頂烏龍茶 清香型
From Zhushan, near Dongdingshan. Lightly fermented, with a clear, bright aroma of orchid.
From $9.00 USD (50g)
Tian Chi Li Shan Cha Special 天池梨山茶 Special
A rare tea from one plot of the Tianchi Lishan garden at 2,600m. Something you meet only once in ten or twenty years, with a tropical fruit aroma layered with citrus and a note suggesting matsutake.
From $61.00 USD (50g)
Wen Shan Bao Zhong 文山包種茶
The most lightly fermented of Taiwan's oolongs, Wen Shan Bao Zhong sits between green tea and oolong in its fresh character. A gentle aroma of orchid.
From $10.00 USD (20g)
Uji Genmai Cha 宇治玄米茶
A high-quality genmaicha with a long finish, developed using naturally grown native-varietal sencha. The quality of the sencha itself comes through fully.
From $12.00 USD (100g)
High Mountain Purple Black Tea 高山紫紅茶
A black tea made from Yunnan's rare purple tea. Faint notes of shiso, sweet potato and peach. Fully fermented, so it takes milk well.
From $6.00 USD (20g)
Phoenix Oolong Mi Lan Xiang 2025 No.2 鳳凰単叢 蜜蘭香濃香 2025 No.2
A Mi Lan Xiang a class above, from trees 60 to 70 years old at 950m in Da'an village. A bright lychee-like aroma with a sweet finish.
From $12.00 USD (15g)
Pu-erh Jasmine Pearl 普洱茉莉龍珠
A jasmine tea made to our order from naturally grown raw pu-erh we helped produce ourselves. A long finish and a substantial aftertaste that overturn what jasmine tea is assumed to be.
From $8.00 USD (30g)
Uji Hojicha Jubuzan 宇治焙茶 鷲峰山
A hojicha made by sand-roasting a sencha from the first flush of a naturally grown garden at 600m. A long finish and a clear aroma that overturn what hojicha is assumed to be.
From $9.00 USD (50g)