The fancy Rubens Golden Tips Tea, which is produced in the highlands of Sri Lanka, is said to have a ‘smooth, light, mellow texture with hints of fruity notes’.
If you thought you ‘d never need a bank loan to buy a cuppa, think again.
The Rubens at The Palace hotel, which is located on the doorstep of Buckingham Palace in London, is now selling the UK’s most expensive cup of tea - at £500 a pot.
Guests who order it will be given the royal treatment, with the Ceylon tea leaves plucked by a white-gloved tea server using gold tweezers and ‘weighed with precision’.
The tea leaves can apparently be infused up to three times, with the ‘flavour profile changing each time for the drinker to enjoy a new depth of flavour’.
Each pot of The Rubens Golden Tips Tea contains three cups and it is presented in a special silver tea set.
The brew is accompanied by freshly baked scones, pastries and finger sandwiches. Rubens recommends sipping on the tea before tucking into them in order to ‘truly savour its delicate flavour’.
Behind the elaborate presentation, there is an elaborate harvesting process.
Skilled tea pluckers hand pick the tips of the small, succulent shoots at sunrise.
The buds are then sun-dried ‘on a velvet cloth with the upmost care’, with the shoots turning from silver to gold.
The costly cuppa was designed in collaboration with Berkshire-headquartered specialist tea merchants P.M.David Silva & Sons.
Dananjaya Silva, Managing Director and Tea Master at P.M. David Silva & Sons, said, ‘The exquisite Rubens Golden Tips tea leaves can be infused as many as three times, with the flavour profile changing each time so you can enjoy a new depth of flavour. On first infusion, you will notice a smooth and velvety floral note on the tip of the palate paired with flavours of melon, pear and sweet honey.
‘After the Rubens’ staff top up the pot with special hot water, notice a dry oaky finish on the back palate. The final infusion is far drier but the sweetness is still present, mixed with a delicious citrus and oaky note.’
Etiquette expert William Hanson, though, says the bank-breaking brew is ‘absurd’. He told MailOnline Travel, ‘Lunacy.
A cup of tea that costs more than a room at the hotel is absurd.
You really do have to have more money than sense to fall for this ruse.’ The experts, however, say that this particular type of tea has a history of exclusivity and high prices in London. In 1891, a pound of golden tips was sold for the equivalent of £1,260.
The hotel’s regular Royal afternoon tea is priced at a more reasonable £45 per person.
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