Why Expensive Tea Is Cheaper Than Inexpensive Tea

Though counter-intuitive, it’s true: expensive tea is actually cheaper than inexpensive tea! This may come as a surprise to many people, but inexpensive tea is often more costly to use than its more expensive counterparts in the long run. There are 3 reasons for this:

1. You use less. You only need to use a fraction of the amount of a high quality tea compared to a low quality tea, whether you are using an old English teapot or the traditional Chinese method of tea-making known as Gong Fu Cha (Tea With Great Skill).

2. High quality tea lasts longer. A high quality tea will make many more good tasting brews than a low quality version before the leaves expire.

3. The tea always tastes better – not just for the first few brews but from the first to the last !

Every retail business offers products that range in price from high to low, and tea shops are no different. Typically, more expensive teas are higher quality than inexpensive teas. For the most part, you will enjoy tea much more and actually save money when you buy the more expensive teas rather than the cheaper ones.

But are you getting a high quality tea just because it is expensive? Not necessarily. From a store’s perspective, their most expensive tea is high quality tea. What they really mean is their most expensive tea is their highest quality tea. This may or may not mean the tea really is high quality, so shopping around and comparing will tell you pretty quickly.

Never be fooled by fancy packaging either. This may make you feel better about your purchase but has little to do with whether a tea is good quality. In fact, it’s often the opposite.

If you want to learn about tea, look at buying new teas as a cost of getting an education. If you can’t taste a tea before you buy and you are not buying from someone you know or trust, always buy the smallest sample you can first.

Learn all about choosing, buying, brewing, and storing teas  in our guide to How To Buy Chinese Tea .