
If you have been exploring tea, even a teeny tiny bit, you will probably have noticed that white tea is generally more expensive than other varieties. Pure Ceylon White tea in particular commands top prices that often make one ask, “why is white tea is so expensive?”
The Short Answer
The short answer is supply and demand; white tea is rarer than other forms of tea and enjoys high demand. But the long answer is much more interesting and will illustrate exactly why this is the case. To do so, we must go to the source and show you how Ceylon White Tea is produced and why it is so rare.
The Long Answer
Ceylon White Tea is produced from the same plant as all other true teas, Camelia sinensis. The differences in the types of tea come from how the raw leaves are picked, handled and processed. Both Silver Tips and Golden Tips are produced from only the delicate and tender buds of the TRI 2043 cultivar of Camelia sinensis. a special cultivar created by Ceylon’s early planters, which possesses characteristics that make it ideally suited to the production of white tea.
Rare, Handmade & Labour Intensive
The entire process of production is carried out by hand. The buds are picked before sunrise by the most experienced pickers, often with gloved hands and utilising sharp scissors. Then the buds are carried away from the tea gardens in soft cloth bags or cloth lined containers. All to avoid damaging the buds or causing any maceration that would lead to oxidation, which ruins the delicate flavours that these teas are known for.
Once the freshly picked buds arrive at the factory, they are sorted by hand and laid out on clean woven mats and dried meticulously under the tropical mountain sun. This process is painstaking and watched over by experienced teamakers. Getting it right is an artform. As the buds dry, they take on the beautiful silver appearance that Silver Tips are known for.
In the case of Golden Tips, an additional step is required where the buds are misted lightly with the best brews of the estate, introducing minute quantities of tannins and other compounds naturally found in black tea. It is this that gives Golden Tips their golden colour, velvety mouthfeel and unique flavour with notes of honey and pine.
Handcrafted & Decorated
Once ready, these treasures are packaged by hand and encased in Tips of Gold’s signature metallic containers, which are also handmade and decorated by traditional Ceylonese metalsmiths and craftsmen using skills handed down across generations.
Natural & Pure
It is this delicate, labour intensive process, combined with the rarity of the delicate buds that make Ceylon White Tea so pure and rare. It is the most natural form of tea as there is minimal processing involved, ensuring that all the natural goodness of tea is preserved.
A Labour of Love
The creation of every container of Tips of Gold is the result of a labour of love and a passion for the finest tea. Furthermore, because white tea is so packed full of antioxidants and natural goodness, it is now more popular than ever in a world where we value our health above all else. Thus, it is the combination of these factors that cause Pure Ceylon White Tea, and other white teas as well, to often be more expensive than other forms of tea.