I don’t know about you, but I can’t live a day without sipping on some hot nectar brewed from dried leaves and herbs. Coffee just doesn’t do it for me. And, being a big fan of tea, I’m always trying out new combinations, mixing and matching flavors, but looking at this list, I begin to realize I may as well have been drinking hot water. Just like with every other ware on the planet, the price of tea may vary depending on all kinds of factors.
Some tea leaves are super rare and will cost you an arm and a leg, and here are the top 10 most expensive ones!
1. Tienchi Flower Tea $170/kg
It’s not very expensive, but it is one of the healthiest Chinese teas you’ll ever get to drink. Some say it can even cure insomnia and various allergies. According to the Internet it tastes like broccoli florets. I don’t even know what that is, but, sure.
2. Gyokuro $650/kg
Ah, how about some nice, jade-tinted Japanese tea? Gyokuro sounds amazing, especially when you learn that it’s grown only in the shade, and takes about 3 weeks to get to the proper condition. It’s all about traditions and patience.
3. Poo Poo Pu-Erh Tea $1,000/kg
Yes, yes, it’s called “poo poo” for a reason. This tea is made of insect feces! But apparently it’s got an amazing taste. For 1,000/kg, I sure hope so!
4. Silver Tips Imperial Tea $1,850/kg
Apparently, it’s just expensive tea. Used to be sold for $400/kg, but in 2014 its price skyrocketed to $1,850!
5. Tieguanyin $3,000/kg
Exclusive Oolong tea straight from China! It’s really a legendary tea, literally. There are 2 actual legends about its origin and both are boring, so let’s move on!
6. Yellow Gold Tea Buds $3,000/kg
Okay, we’re getting into the “cheating” category here with Yellow Gold Tea Buds. Its leaves are literally coated with real 24-carats gold. The only way to have some Gold Tea is to visit Singapore.
7. Narcissus Wuyi Vintage Oolong Tea $6,500/kg
High in the Wuyi Mountains, people are cultivating this very rare tea that tastes better as it gets older. It supposedly has light flowery notes, and a bit of a chocolate-y flavor. Sounds delicious!
8. Panda Dung Tea $70,000/kg
Can you guess why it’s called Panda Dung tea? I’ll give you a minute. No, it’s not made out of poop this time, but panda dung is being used as a fertilizer. Love those cuddly looking guys and thanks for your super poop making my tea great!
9. Dà Hóng Páo Tea $1,200,000/kg
Just because this tea once cured a sick Ming emperor, it is now worth $1.2 million per kg! Damn, those Chines royals had a real price-be-damned attitude.
10. Diamond Tea Bags by PG Tips $7,500,00/kg
And we got another cheater! Just because you can put 280 of the finest quality diamonds into a tea bag, doesn’t mean you should. 2 grams of this stuff will cost you $15,000. Sorry, folks this one is a marketing ploy to sell diamonds not tea. I say two thumbs down.
Bonus:
Kopi Luwak – World’s Most Expensive Coffee $700/kg
Dirty beans don’t even hold a candle to elite tea. But there is a similarity between Kopi Luwak and some of the tea mentioned above – it’s poop coffee! The beans were digested by a cute creature and then people would grind it and enjoy the aroma. Kinda like savoring the smell of a working cattle ranch in Montana, fresh clean air with a smidge of cow poop aroma thrown in. What a weird world we live in.
