At $10,000 a Pot, This Chinese Tea Is More Expensive than Gold

There are many tea lovers out there who test and try as many different blends and leaves as they can get their hands on and have tea bags falling out of their kitchen cupboards. However, it’s safe to assume there are not many that would be happy, or able, to part with $10,000 for a single pot.

Da Hong Pao is one of the world’s most expensive teas and costs more than 30 times its weight in gold, $1,400 for a gram. It is a rare and expensive strain of oolong tea, which is grown in the Wuyishan region of South China and often aged for up to 80 years before sale.

According to a popular legend, the mother of an emperor was cured of a terrible illness by the Da Hong Pao tea. The emperor then covered the four small bushes which grew the magical tea with giant red robes.

One of the bushes from the popular legend underwent its last harvest in 2005 and the others are not far from following in its footsteps. Experts believe that with time the tea leaves will become as expensive as diamonds.

Though the original Da Hong Pao carries such a hefty price tag, there are other options to sample a similar tea. This can be done for a much more reasonable price of $100 a kilogram. Although nothing can compare the two, the flavor of the alternative Da Hong Pao is not as strong, and the legend is far less important. All other varieties of Da Hong Pao are grown from the branch of an original mother tree.