We Brits are world-famous for our obsession with tea. We get through around 150 million cups of the stuff every day. To tap into the upper end of this huge market, Harrods has come up with an infusion that will truly strain the limits of disposable income.
Tieguanyin is a rare Chinese green tea (Northerners: do NOT add milk and sugar!), which Harrods will sell from next month. At £1700 a kilo, or roughly £8.50 per cup (Northerners: no dunking!), few punters will be getting 10 stamps on their loyalty cards should Harrods choose to sell the brew in their cafe.
It’s not quite so pricey as it first sounds. ‘The loose oolong leaves grown in the Fujian province can be re-brewed up to seven times’, according to a Harrods spokesman.
It has got a beautiful perfume. Very, very floral. It is like sitting in a garden on a hot summer's day when all the flowers are really heady.
And therein lies the rub with green teas. They might smell as sweet as the garden of Eden and be packed with nutrients, but nobody ever raves about the taste. We suggest you save yourself nearly two grand, and decant a puddle into your teapot.
