PRECIOUS BREWS

From the Ming dynasty to pandas and from gold flakes to silver tips, there are unique features that make these some of the most expensive teas in the world

- SMITA TRIPATHI

QUICK, HOW MUCH do you think a kg of tea costs? On an average it costs around ₹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 (₹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.