Melburnians are regularly paying up to $18 for a cup of tea at some city cafes, with the most expensive variety selling for $1000 a cup.

But these leafy drops are not of the kind derived from a Twinings tea bag or even from a teapot poured at your own leisure. Rather, Melbourne's most serious brewers are investing in high-tech boilers worth thousands of dollars and spending up to $100 for 100 grams of imported tea leaves, in pursuit of the perfect cup.

No trouble brewing: Hannah Dupree prepares an infusion at her Collingwood cafe, Storm in a Teacup. Credit:Paul Jeffers

When Hannah Dupree opened Storm in a Teacup in Collingwood 18 months ago, she spent $4500 on an ecoboiler that enables her to boil water and keep it at a range of exact temperatures, according to the variety of tea.

She serves 35 varieties, including white, green, black and oolong, from $3.50 for a basic English Breakfast and up to $12 for a ''shade-grown'' Hawaiian white tea. She recently sold out of the Pre-Quing Ming Mao Jian - made from the first spring leaves of a Chinese tea plant, which cost $18 a cup. Her tea cocktails, including a jasmine gin and a matcha martini, cost between $10 and $20.