About Us

Ever found yourself in the tea aisle, perplexed by the sheer variety of teas available, or even worse, ended up buying a tea that didn’t live up to your expectations? We’ve been there too, and that’s what sparked the inception of Chinese Teas 101.

The Chinese Teas 101 mission is twofold: 

  • Offering accurate and comprehensive information about all tea varieties, from well-known green teas to lesser-known ones such as ashwagandha or butterfly pea tea.
  • Crafting the best tea reviews.

How We Review Products

We are committed to providing reviews you can trust, borne out of an objective and independent assessment of each product, coupled with ratings and expert opinions to help you choose the right tea to match your specific needs.

Our process works as follows:

  1. We identify the top-tier products in each category.
  2. All products we review are purchased by us, at retail price, similar to you, ensuring full objectivity and impartiality in our ratings. In rare instances, we might receive products from manufacturers, which in no way sways our product assessment.
  3. Our review team, comprised of seasoned tea enthusiasts, carries out detailed, side-by-side testing. The test plan varies with the product but typically includes an evaluation of health benefits (if applicable), taste, aroma, packaging, and ease of use, among other aspects.
  4. We then rank the products, clarify the rationale behind the ranking, and bestow awards on the standout teas.
  5. After our testing and reviews are finished, we retain several products as a benchmark for future reviews.

Here is a detailed breakdown of our editorial, fact-checking, and product review processes, illustrated with very specific examples.

How We Make Money

Chinese Teas 101 is a reader-supported service, free for all. Our product selection and reviews are objective and independent. Our earnings are solely through the affiliate links that lead you to purchase the teas we have reviewed, thereby supporting our testing work.

When you click a retailer’s link on our site and make a purchase, a fraction of the sale amount is allocated to us by the retailer, without any additional cost to you. This simple action aids us in funding our tea reviews.

We are grateful for your support!

Product Selection

Our review process commences with product selection, sifting through hundreds of products to shortlist the top performers in each category. We then buy these products for detailed, hands-on comparative testing.

Sometimes, manufacturers provide us with products for testing. However, this does not influence our review process, and the final tea rating remains impartial.

Creating Honest Test-Based Reviews Is Hard Work

You may think that tea is a simple product, and there’s nothing to test it for.

Nothing could be further from the truth.

Different types of teas have varying health benefits, tastes, and aromas. Branded products of the same tea type aren’t created equally either, and they can differ significantly in terms of flavor, aroma, and even health benefits.

That’s why we strive to review as many branded products as possible.

Our review process is more comprehensive than the average tea reviews you encounter online. We firmly believe that the finest tea reviews stem from meticulous product testing and objective comparisons among various products. It’s insufficient to merely know if the reviewer liked or disliked the product. We aim to inform you about its performance in comparison to other top-rated products, and why one product may outperform another.

If our commitment to objective, independent testing resonates with you, do spread the word about Chinese Teas 101, helping us expand and sustain our free service.

Feel free to explore our reviews and let us know if we’re meeting our objectives. Should you have any questions or suggestions that can help us improve, please drop me an email. Together, we can transform Chinese Teas 101 into the leading global resource for tea aficionados like yourself.

Joshua Perry
Founder and Editor-in-Chief
Chinese Teas 101