Wow! This is expensive stuff!!

Doing some rough calculations-- a bit shy of 227 grams to 8 oz., about 2.25 grams per cup-- that's about a buck a cup. Quite a bit more than I care to pay for an everyday brew, but not drastically expensive for a little something special if you particularly enjoy it.

Mind you, you can find some awfully nice tea for a fraction of that cost, but the cost per cup isn't particularly dear compared to other beverages you could drink. And when you start talking about teas that give three or four infusions....the price per lb. has to go well over $150.00 before it becomes as expensive per serving as the ubiquitous plastic bottles of cola or water that get chugged down with scarcely a second thought by most everyone you know.

I first did this exercise when my mom freaked at discovering what I was paying for a Chun Mee a few years back. I was hoping to show it wasn't THAT many times as expensive per cup than her grocery store coffee. It turned out to be just a fraction.

-Doc

Upton has an apparently similar tea:

for 2/3 the price. It's hard to tell if they are the "same" - Upton gives the invoice number - but I've just tried this tea and it's pretty darn good - one of the best Darjeelings I've had since the *last* Makaibari Silver Tips I had, last year (from Rishi, who's long since been out).

Doug

It's the nickle and dime stuff that keeps me in the poor house. On a recent trip to Chinatown I picked up a box of Wuyi rock tea for $4 and at home discovered it was only 30g. And the shipping costs from China.

Jim

Aloke Prasad wrote: