So people keep asking me about expensive tea. I’m not sure why, it could be some cosmic coincidence, the higher powers sense that the subject in general is a source of frustration to me. Truth be told, it’s probably a good thing that I get a chance to share some facts and shed light on the issue, but it also serves as a constant reminder that we’re so far behind the rest of the world – in our knowledge of this most incredible of beverages.
On to the point of the story – what’s the deal with expensive tea?
First and foremost, 95% of all tea is highly inexpensive. That percentile encompasses most of the ‘higher end’ of the available harvests, some truly amazing rich and complex flavors out there for your drinking pleasure. Compared to most other luxury consumables like cigar and fine wine (yes, I do keep bringing up those two as relative reference), tea is CHEAP. Let’s look at an example, to illustrate my point: a pound of tea for $160. It’s something I recently sampled (quite good, too), and someone had commented on the rather large price tag.
Well, once you break down the actual cost per...