I am asked often why tea is so expensive and while I am not sure why, I find myself feeling frustrated. In truth, this presents an opportunity for me to get the truth out to consumers that not only is high quality tea affordable, but also delicious, not or cold. Misconceptions such as this are another reminder that the western world with all its advances is still behind in knowledge when it comes to tea.
Why Do People Think Tea is Expensive?
Well, I have to be honest here in saying that approximately 95% of tea harvested is expensive but tea of this type is of the finest quality, which means it is rich in flavor and loaded with healing properties. If you were to compare other life’s luxuries such as having manicures and pedicures, buying Cuban cigars, or a fine bottle of wine, tea is far from expensive, in fact, it is cheap. One example, you might find a pound of the finest tea and see a price tag of $160 but again, when compared to other things we use to pamper ourselves in life, this is a drop in the bucket.
Instead of looking at the full price of herbal tea, you need to look at the price per cup. Using the $160 price and breaking it down into cups, you would see that it is actually very affordable. Let us say that you purchased high quality, loose green tea, or loose black tea that would be brewed in a special teapot. With this, you could easily get up to five infusions, simply reusing the tea leaves while moist. This means that you are paying less than $1 per cup or less than .20 per infusion if you get five.
Making Cost Comparisons
Now, if you were to look at the $5 you pay for a cup of tea from a top coffee/tea shop such as Starbucks, which is probably less quality tea at that, you would see the huge savings. Even a glass of fine wine would be no comparison. In addition, when you consider all the stages involved in growing and harvesting tea, to include worker’s wages, processing, packaging, and exporting, the price is ridiculously low.
When you consider everything, it is easy to see that a single cup of healthy tea would cost you less than you would pay for a can of soda.
Best of all, not only do you pay very little for quality tea you also have a huge selection of different varieties. In fact, it is estimated that more than 1,000 different varieties of tea exists so you would never tire. Of course, with all the health benefits that come from many types of tea, such as Chinese green tea, the price is worth every cent.
Educating the Public about Tea
As I work hard to educate the public about the true cost of tea, remember I said that 95% of all tea is expensive (until you break cost down) but now, I need to talk about the remaining 5%. In this group are special types of tea that the world never gets to experience. For instance, there is a type of Japanese black tea so unique it would cost you $1,000 a pound, if you could find it. It is common for the 5% tea to cost upwards of $200 per ounce, which is expensive.
Obviously, most people cannot afford this type of price tag and even if they could, chances are they would never be able to get hold of it. The reasons is that prior to tea being plucked in the spring and then dried at the tea plantation where it is grown, this special group of tea is already committed to someone else. Yes, this type of tea is expensive but when you look at the remaining 95%, it is easy to see the cost is quite low, especially for everything you get.
I truly hope the truth will encourage you to start drinking tea, enjoying the many wonderful flavors, aroma, and healing properties.
