How much do you think an expensive tea costs? A couple of weekends ago I was in Rome and stopped at one of the most well-known city tea rooms called Babington’s tea where a cup of regular Gunpowder cost me 9.50 Euros. Surely, the place was historical and they had some special blends for over 20 Euros per person, but I thought my cup was overpriced.

There are, however, teas that are well worth the price and this price can actually reach 4 digits. Not surprisingly, Chinese and Indian tea specialties are at the very top of the most expensive list:

1. Da Honh Pao (Oolong): this rare Chinese tea specialty takes 80 years to mature before it can be served. It dates back to 18th century when the emperor Da Hong Pao enjoyed this very unique oolong blend. It is now served at Royal China Club in London for £180 a pot (which is 2-3 cups depending on the size of a cup), while price per kilo varies from several thousand to over a million dollars. Here is the tea legend.
2. Tieguanyin (Oolong): another rare Chinese tea named after the Buddhist Guan Yin is priced somewhere between $2600-3000 per kilo. One leaf of this tea can be brewed up to 7 times!
3. Silver Tips Imperial (Darjeeling): at the moment the most expensive tea in India which was sold at the price of $1850 per kilo. They say it will be served for $40 a teapot in one of Tokyo’s hotels. More with pictures about how this tea is produced read on Huffington Post.
4. Gyokuro (Sencha): Japanese green tea which costs around $650 per kilo.

So what would you pay for a cup of premium tea?

They talk about the most expensive teas in the world:

• http://most-expensive.com/tea
• Would you pay £180 for a pot of TEA?
• Top 5 Most Expensive Teas In The World
• China’s Latest Rare Tea Rage