-R.":193ljhyz said:
To be honest, I didn't even notice the price of the oolong when I posted that link...
Oh...er, well, if that means you don't even have to
think about the cost, you are indeed fortunate.
But I must ask, whence cometh this Phoenix Mountain Dan Cong of which thou speakest? Holy Mountain Trading has none by that name. Of course Googling for it produces the predictably bewildering array of hits.
Can you recommend a specific one? (...preferably one that's priced on the reasonable side of outrageous.)
Hmmm...I just remembered that there was a sample of a Dan Cong oolong in an order I received recently. Haven't tried it yet. I'm sipping a #3 infusion of a nice Red Robe oolong right now. After that, maybe I'll give that Dan Cong a try.
-R.":193ljhyz said:
...can range from being fairly reasonably priced to outrageous, for whatever reasons govern such matters.
It is indeed a curious matter that teas of similar quality can come at such widely varying prices. Of course, "similar quality" is in so many (but not all) respects such a purely subjective determination, but just going on the discriminating ability of my own tasticles, I have found some teas that are (as I mentioned above)...
Vito":193ljhyz said:
...unreasonably inexpensive...
...in comparison to others of the same (alleged) ilk.
Examples abound, as I'm sure you know. Here are two:
- Verdant Tea's Hand Picked Tieguanyin Spring Oolong – Sold out now, but when it was available, it sold for a scant $144/lb. An exquisite Tieguanyin, to be sure, but...
- thepuriTea's Ali Shan Oolong is arguably as good a tea in the same genre (in fact, I like it better), and at a bit more than 1/3 the price of Verdant's offering, there's really no contest in my book.
The factors that determine the price are probably known only to the vendor, although some factors are evident—many of which are related to marketing. Online tea vendors sell image—the look and feel of the website, the hype in the tea descriptions (
Verdant's descriptions are masterful...if not always entirely accurate in describing MY perceptions of the teas), and in many cases the vibe of a
tea subculture.
Then too, where they're doing business is a factor. The God-awful costs of doing business in some states (I won't mention any names) is an automatic overhead cost generator on any vendors who do business there.
:joker: