Find your axis first
Most preferences sort along a handful of lines. Fresh and vegetal, or roasted and toasty. Floral and aromatic, or malty and substantial. Delicate and light-bodied, or thick and mouth-coating. Sweet with no grip, or brisk and drying. One or two of these will describe what you already reach for, and that is a far better filter than category.
Move sideways before moving up
Having found something you like, the productive next step is usually a tea that shares its character from a different category rather than a more expensive version of the same thing. Someone who likes Darjeeling second flush should try Oriental Beauty — honeyed muscat reached by a completely different route. Someone who likes shou pu-erh should try Liu Bao. These crossings teach more than trading up within a familiar style.
Use the relationships rather than the tags
TeaHQ records two kinds of connection between teas, and they answer different questions. 'Similar flavour profile' says what to try next if you liked this. 'Gentler introduction to' says where to start if this seems intimidating. Both are hand-authored editorial judgements rather than computed similarity — two teas can share every descriptor and be nothing alike, which is why the catalogue does not match on tags.
The honest limits of any recommendation
Preference is not predictable from description, and nobody’s palate maps cleanly onto anyone else’s. A recommendation is a shortlist, not an answer. The only reliable method remains buying small quantities and finding out, and any tool — including one TeaHQ might build — is a way of shortening that list rather than replacing it.