Observation, evidence, attribution, and transparency
Being Tea Co separates observation from evidence, tradition from universal claims, and useful recommendations from commercial incentives.
Evidence and safety
Scientific, safety, and legal claims link to current primary or authoritative sources whenever possible. Dates are attached to time-sensitive research. House recipes are labeled as starting points, and botanical pages distinguish food use, traditional use, human evidence, laboratory evidence, and folklore.
Editorial images never serve as positive plant identification. High-risk wild plants and fungi are labeled purchased-only, mentor-first, or learn-only when a casual recipe would be irresponsible.
Culture and attribution
Practices are attributed to their communities, regions, makers, or schools. Personal experience at Deer Park Monastery is not presented as lineage authority, institutional endorsement, or an official Plum Village teaching. Translations, historical claims, and ceremonial practices are sourced and framed with limits.
Product review record
A recommendation must be useful even if no commission exists. Reviews record enough detail for a reader to understand what was actually tested:
- Exact product, tea lot, package size, and purchase or gift status.
- Price and date; origin, maker, harvest, cultivar, and processing when available.
- Condition on arrival, storage before tasting, and any seller-supplied provenance claims.
- Water source, vessel, leaf-to-water ratio, temperature, contact time, and repeated infusions.
- Aroma, flavor, texture, aftertaste, strengths, weaknesses, value, and intended drinker.
- Whether conclusions come from one session or repeated use.
- Photographs of the exact tested item, with AI imagery excluded from product evidence.
- The signed affiliate rate, attribution window, reversals, payout terms, and image permissions when a paid link is used.
Commerce and disclosure
Paid relationships, gifted products, sponsored work, display advertising, and original merchandise are disclosed where they matter. Commission rate does not determine editorial ranking. Paid outbound links are marked as sponsored, and an ad-network placement is not treated as an endorsement.
No affiliate links, paid sponsorships, WordAds revenue sharing, or Being Tea Co products are active as of July 29, 2026. See the full disclosure policy.
AI-assisted work
Editorial illustrations may be generated, but they never stand in for photographs of an exact tea lot, maker, monastery, ceremony, wild specimen, or tested product. Research claims are checked against linked sources; AI output is not cited as evidence.
Corrections log
Material errors are corrected visibly with the date and nature of the change. Readers may send evidence or corrections to beingteaco@gmail.com.
| Date | Page | Material change |
|---|---|---|
| July 29, 2026 | Site relaunch | No post-publication material corrections logged at launch. |
Being Tea Co 