Editorial Policy
Who Writes Our Articles
The people behind AO Tea blog articles are tea specialists who spend their days sourcing, cupping, and brewing Chinese, Japanese, and Taiwanese teas. That is not a marketing line. We mean it literally: the same people who select teas for the shop also write about them. Years of working with gongfu cha, tasting hundreds of lots each season, and traveling to tea-producing regions give our writers something worth sharing.
Why We Recommend Our Own Products
Simple. We know them inside out. Every tea and teaware piece on AO Tea has been sourced, tested, and tasted by our team before it ever reaches the store. When a blog article mentions a specific product, that mention comes from real experience with it — not from a sales brief. We do not use affiliate links. No third-party commissions. If we recommend something, it is ours and we stand behind it.
How We Handle Facts
Tea is full of myths. We try not to add to them. Factual claims in our articles cite peer-reviewed research or primary sources — published studies, not blog hearsay. Brewing parameters like water temperature, steep times, and leaf ratios get tested in-house with both gongfu and Western methods before we publish them. On health topics, we reference the science and skip the miracle claims. Nothing on this blog is medical advice.
Editorial Independence
We write about what interests us and what helps our readers. Not what sells best this month. If a product appears in an article, the writer put it there because it fits the topic well — not because someone asked them to. Commercial goals do not drive our editorial calendar.
Found a Mistake?
Tell us. Seriously — we want to know. Email hello@aotea.store and we will look into it. When we fix a factual error, we add a note at the bottom of the article so readers can see what changed.