Despite having only four vendors we can clearly see that Shan Li Xi tea is priced squarely in between Alishan and Lishan; This trend holds true for average price and all four vendors individual prices, an observation that holds true for my own personal experience as well. Amongst the four vendors, many of the same trends emerge. Origin Tea is inexpensive and Stephane’s is not.

Vendor $ Cost Quantity (oz) $/oz # Offerings Origin Tea $22.54 1.33 $16.95 2 Teamasters $28.00 0.88 $31.82 1 Taiwan Tea Crafts $13.00 0.88 $14.77 1 Naive Tea $33.00 2 $16.50 1

Average Price : $20.01

: $20.01 # Vendors: 4

Da Yu Ling lives up to it’s premium reputation with the highest average price. It’s also the most expensive tea for three of the four vendors, Taiwan Tea Crafts being the exception. Interestingly, this is the only tea where Origin Tea is not one of the cheapest vendors.

Unsurprisingly, tea price has a strong positive correlation with altitude.

Buying in Bulk

So you’ve sampled the spectrum and you know exactly what you know you like. How much money are you saving by buying in bulk from your favorite vendor. I crunched the numbers for the most affordable and common (Alishan) and the most premium (Da Yu Ling) for quantities between 2-5.3 oz (150 grams).

Alishan (2.1-5.3 oz.)

Vendor $ Cost Quantity (oz) $/oz Old $/oz % Discount # Offerings Floating Leaves $43.00 5 $8.60 $12.00 39.53% 1 Origin Tea $13.36 2.64 $5.06 $5.02 0.00% 1 Teamasters $85.00 5.3 $16.04 $19.32 20.47% 2 Taiwan Tea Crafts $45.60 5.3 $8.60 $9.09 5.65% 1 Naive Tea $44.00 4 $11.00 $11.00 0.00% 1 Tea From Taiwan $21.50 2.64 $8.14 N/A N/A 2 T-Oolong $15.00 2.64 $5.68 N/A N/A 4

Average Price : $9.02 (Discount of 20.1%)

: $9.02 (Discount of 20.1%) Average Price (excluding new vendors) : $9.86 (Discount of 12.6%)

: $9.86 (Discount of 12.6%) # Vendors: 7

The average price has gone down by over 20%, a substantial saving. However, the savings are largely aided by Tea From Taiwan and T-Oolong, whose smallest quantities are 75 grams/2.64 oz (and were not included within the first table). Without either of these two the savings are more marginal, under 10%. Only a few vendors, notably Floating Leaves and Teamasters, actually offer a significant discount. Origin Tea and Naive Tea have no discount or a miniscule price deduction. Taiwan Tea Craft’s discount (~5%) is also unimpressive considering the significant rise in tea quantity from 0.88 oz. to 5.3 oz.

Da Yu Ling (2.1-5.3 oz.)

Vendor $ Cost Quantity (oz) $/oz Old $/oz % Diff # Offerings Origin Tea $45.09 2.64 $17.08 $16.95 -0.76% 2 Teamasters $140.00 5.3 $26.42 $31.82 20.46% 1 Taiwan Tea Crafts $74.10 5.3 $13.98 $14.77 5.64% 1 Naive Tea $59.00 4 $14.75 $16.50 11.86% 1 Tea From Taiwan $46.00 2.64 $17.42 N/A N/A 1 T-Oolong $138.00 5.3 $26.04 N/A N/A 1

Average Price : $19.28 (Discount of 3.6%)

: $19.28 (Discount of 3.6%) Average Price (excluding new vendors) : $18.06 (Discount of 9.7%)

: $18.06 (Discount of 9.7%) # Vendors: 6

This confirms alot of what we saw from the Alishan bulk prices; Nearly every single vendor offers virtually the exact discount and quantity. For those interested in premium teas, Teamasters is a good target to buy in bulk as Stephane offers a strong bulk discount (>20%) and because of the high shipping cost from Taiwan. For those interested in buying in bulk it’s also important to note that high-mountain tea should be consumed relatively promptly!

Generalists Vendors and Cheap Tea on Ebay

Originally when compiling this data, I had a number of ebay vendors and tea generalists (Hou de Asian, Red Blossom, Tea Trekker) included. Unsurprisingly, both of these vendor-types threw the numbers off considerably. Tea generalists prices veered a bit higher than Taiwanese tea vendors, while ebay prices were far cheaper than average.

With prices like $3.30/oz for Alishan (Teahome) and $4.48/oz for Da Yu Ling (zen8tea), it’s hard to resist just going straight to ebay. So… what about the tea on ebay? Were all these statistics just empty fluff when the real deal is elsewhere? Not exactly.

Nearly every tea vendor on ebay will be based somewhere in Asia. The convenience of being near the source allows ebay vendors to acquire a larger selection and offer them at smaller profit margins than many west-based vendors. Sadly, this does not ensure the best or even particularly good tea. The ebay market is saturated with forgeries and many vendors will sell old or simply bad tea. Despite this, there is definitely still a time and place for ebay, although I’d recommend against it for intermediate and expert tea drinkers. Here are some of the advantages and disadvantages to buying ebay tea.

Advantages:

Cheap tea.

Good daily drinkers.

Good place to start.

Disadvantages:

Forgeries.

Tea will almost never be top-tier.

Recommended ebay tea vendors:

Decisons, Decisions, Decisions

High-mountain tea is a premium commodity and can be very expensive. For interested newcomers, I’d recommend buying a wide variety of high-mountain teas in small-quantities to sample and figure out what you like. Only buy in bulk if you trust the vendor, are sure of what you want, and are sure that you are getting a discount! Beware of ebay. You get what you pay for and oftentimes the same teas (Alishan from ebay vs. Alishan from Floating Leaves) can vary dramatically in quality. While non-ebay vendors command higher prices, reliable vendors give a strong guarantee of authenticity and quality.

Additional Tables

Alishan, All Vendors (0.5-2.0 oz.) [Avg. Price = $10.08]

Vendor $ Cost Quantity (oz) $/oz # Offerings Floating Leaves $12.00 1 $12.00 1 Origin Tea $6.68 1.33 $5.02 1 Teamasters $17.00 0.88 $19.32 2 Taiwan Tea Crafts $8.00 0.88 $9.09 1 Red Blossom $25.00 2 $12.50 1 Hou de Asian Art $20.50 2 $10.25 1 Naive Tea $22.00 2 $11.00 1 Dragon Tea House $11.00 1.76 $6.25 2 Teahome $10.50 2 $5.25 1 Tea Trekker $27.00 2 $13.50 1

Lishan, All Vendors (0.5-2.0 oz.) [Avg. Price = $14.54]

Vendor $ Cost Quantity (oz) $/oz # Offerings Floating Leaves $15.00 1 $15.00 1 Origin Tea $15.03 1.33 $11.30 1 Teamasters $25.00 0.88 $28.41 1 Taiwan Tea Crafts $13.67 0.88 $15.53 3 Red Blossom $37.00 2 $18.50 2 Naive Tea $29.00 2 $14.50 1 Dragon Tea House $17.00 1.76 $9.66 1 Teahome $25.00 2 $12.50 1 Mountain Tea $11.00 2 $5.50 1 Teavivre $28.90 1.76 $16.42 1 Rishi $15.00 1.76 $8.52 1

Shan Li Xi, All Vendors (0.5-2.0 oz.) [Avg. Price = $11.76]

Vendor $ Cost Quantity (oz) $/oz # Offerings Origin Tea $10.86 1.33 $8.17 2 Teamasters $16.25 0.88 $18.47 1 Taiwan Tea Crafts $10.75 0.88 $12.22 1 Red Blossom $28.00 2 $14.00 1 Hou de Asian Art $24.50 2 $12.25 1 Naive Tea $24.00 2 $12.00 1 Dragon Tea House $14.00 1.76 $7.95 1 Teahome $13.50 2 $6.75 1 Tea Trekker $28.00 2 $14.00 1

Da Yu Ling, All Vendors (0.5-2.0 oz.) [Avg. Price = $16.98]