Most Expensive Tea

Tea is an extremely popular beverage around the world, coming in second to coffee as the most popular beverage in the world. Typically packaged in a porous bag, tea leaves are soaked in hot water for a short time to create the drink we all know as tea. Tea can be served hot or ice cold. White tea, Green tea, Oolong, Black/Red Tea, and Yellow teas are among the most commonly enjoyed teas. Since first being discovered in China around 2000 BC, tea has evolved into a lucrative, worldwide market that has created some expensive teas most people wouldn’t dream of buying, let alone drinking.

The most expensive teabag in the world
(via Ananova)

If you consider yourself a tea connoisseur of sorts and love to drink expensive cups of tea, the Ritz Carlton of Hong Kong boast the world’s most expensive High Tea at a price of $8,888 per couple. Of course, you’ll get all sorts of high-priced finger foods too. Furthermore, if you’re into tea culture enough to buy accessories, nothing says you’re rich like this handcrafted diamond teabag worth £7,500 (US $15,250), made by Boodles jewelers to celebrate PG Tips’ 75^th birthday. The most expensive teabag in the world contains 280 diamonds and is being used to raise money for a children’s charity in Manchester, England.

The name Darjeeling also may ring a bell when thinking of expensive teas. Probably the most famous type of tea in the industry, it is so expensive because its best plants are grown on steep and dangerous slopes around the India, Nepal, and Bhutan border that range from 5,000 to 8,000 feet above sea level.

A Darjeeling tea

The Silver Tips teas made by the Makaibari estate brand in 2003 made headlines for reaching prices of $400 US for one kilogram. In 2007, depending on market prices and the season, a single-estate Darjeeling will cost about $25 to $100 US per pound at retail, but the most expensive Darjeelings are currently fetching prices of about $3,300 US per kilogram (2.2 pounds).

The most expensive tea in the world, however, is a rare Chinese tea called Tieguanyin, which is priced at £1,700 per kilo (that’s around $1,500/lb). The tea is named after the Buddhist deity Guan Yin (Iron Goddess of Mercy). It’s an oolong tea, meaning its oxidization is somewhere between that of black and green teas. Luckily for anyone who buys this expensive tea, a leaf can be brewed up to seven times before it loses its flavor.

Tieguanyin leaves and tea

• Most Expensive Coffee in the World
• Most Expensive Christmas Cocktail
• Most Expensive Cognac
• Most Expensive Vodka
• Most Expensive Chess Set
• Most Expensive Cocktail in the World