Precious brews: Here's what makes these teas the most expensive in the world

Quick, how much do you think a kg of tea costs? On an average it costs around Rs 500 per kg. But that is the commercial variety available off-the-shelf in supermarkets and grocery stores. Loose leaf tea in exclusive tea boutiques can cost upwards of a few thousand rupees per kg. However, that is nothing compared to the most expensive tea in the world—the Da Hong Pao from China—priced at over $1 million per kg. What makes it so pricey? For starters, there are only six such tea trees that still exist on the planet. Referred to as mother plants, these are found in the Wuyi Mountains of the Fujian province of China. They were last harvested in 2005, which means the few grams of tea available with collectors are worth more than double their weight in gold. In 2002, just 20 gm of the precious tea was sold for 180,000 yuan or almost $28,000 (Rs 23.16 lakh at current exchange rates) at an auction. The tea, declared a national treasure for its rarity, literally translates to Big Red Robe. As per legend, an emperor of the Ming dynasty donated his robe to get a jar of this special oolong tea—thought to have medicinal properties—for his ailing mother. So special is this tea that Chairman Mao gifted 200 gm of it to then US President Richard Nixon on his official visit to China in 1972.

But it’s not just the Chinese who value Da Hong Pao. In 1849, British botanist Robert Fortune went to the Wuyi Mountains on a secret mission—to steal the seeds, or better, cuttings, of the special Chinese tea that Britons had grown to love, and plant them in India. When these seeds reached India, they merged with the indigenous Indian tea and gave rise to the tea industry in the country.

While Da Hong Pao is the most expensive tea in the world and available only at auctions, there is another Chinese tea that is pretty expensive. And while it doesn’t have Ming dynasty connections, it is related to a rare animal found in China. The Panda Dung tea uses the panda’s dung as fertiliser. This fertiliser is high in nutrients as pandas eat bamboo from which they absorb only 30 per cent of the nutrients. The balance remains in the droppings, which act as fertiliser for plants. The tea was first grown a decade ago in the Ya’an Mountains of China’s Sichuan by an entrepreneur and panda enthusiast. Among much fanfare, the first batch was sold for $3,500 (Rs 2.90 lakh) for 50 gm, making it one of the most expensive teas. It is no longer in production, making it a collector’s item.

Now here’s an exclusive tea that you can actually sip. The Yellow Gold Tea Buds from Singapore-based TWG Tea is priced at S$611 (Rs 38,000) for 50 gm. What makes this Chinese yellow tea variety special? Each tea bud is covered with 24-carat gold, which once infused yields a delicately metallic and floral aftertaste. The company even gives instructions on preparing the tea. Pour 75° Celsius water over 2.5 gm of leaves per cup and infuse for 3-4 minutes. Remove leaves and serve.

TWG also sells Imperial Gykuro, a rare Japanese tea of which only around 5 kg are harvested every year. The tea is painstakingly cultivated under handmade rice straw mats for three weeks. The tea absorbs significant quantities of minerals that wash through mats during rains and morning dew. Thanks to the shade, the jade-coloured tea grows very slowly developing a sweet and concentrated flavour. It is priced at S$1,272 (Rs 80,000) for 50 gm and is often out of stock, given its limited quantity. It can be pre-booked.

Japanese tea is in high demand at tea auctions. In November, less than a kg of green tea leaves from Japan sold for a record-breaking 1.96 million yen—or about $15,500 (Rs 12.82 lakh). This surpassed the previous record of 1.08 million yen or $8,500 (Rs 7 lakh) set in 2021. The record-breaking tea leaves were grown in Fujinomiya, a city in Shizuoka prefecture, known for its high-quality green teas.

In India, one of the most expensive teas is the Silver Tips Imperial Tea. Grown at the Makaibari Tea Estate in Darjeeling, the tea comes from special buds that look like silver needles. The tea leaves are plucked only on full moon nights because of the belief that the planetary alignment on full moon nights helps optimise the flavour of the tea. As a result, it can be plucked only three to four times during the harvest season, making production limited. The semi-fermented oolong tea has a fruity aroma and was sold for $1,850 (Rs 1.53 lakh) per kg in 2014 at an auction. Currently it is available for $36 (Rs 3,000) for 50 gm, or $720 (Rs 60,000) for a kg on the Makaibari website. The tea estate says that the tea is anti-ageing and relaxing, and is best sipped at bedtime.

In December last year, 1 kg of tea from Assam sold at an auction for Rs 1,51,000. Called Golden Pearl from the Nahorchukbari estate in Assam’s Dibrugarh area, the tea was bought by a Russian tea company.

The global tea industry is estimated to be worth $21.3 billion by 2024, according to United Nations projections. Not surprisingly, global tea consumption is dominated by China (38 per cent) and India (19 per cent). According to the UN, the tea sector proved resilient against economic recessions triggered by Covid-19. Expectedly. After all, it’s always teatime, as the Mad Hatter remarked to Alice in Alice in Wonderland.

@smitabw