The most expensive tea with a documented recent sale is the Rimpocha Silver Needles White Imperial Full Moon from Darjeeling, reported at $5,000 a kilo in January 2025. This list ranks three teas by price per kilo, using a private-sale report, a Guwahati auction result and a Guinness-certified charity auction. The better-known Da Hong Pao from China’s Wuyi Mountains and a quoted “panda dung” tea are covered in a separate section, because we found no sale record for them.
| Rank | Tea | Price per kilo (USD) | When | Type of price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rimpocha Silver Needles White Imperial Full Moon | About $5,000 | Jan 2025 report | Private sale |
| 2 | Manohari Gold (Assam) | About $1,300 to $1,400 | Dec 2021 to Dec 2022 | Auction and private sale |
| 3 | Janat Paris Ceylon lot (Vithanakande Estate) | About $840 | 26 Sep 2025 | Charity auction, Guinness record |
1. Rimpocha Silver Needles White Imperial Full Moon: about $5,000 per kilo
Rimpocha Tea is a group of small growers in the Darjeeling district, formed in 2018 by Swaraj Kumar “Rajah” Banerjee, who previously ran the Makaibari estate. About 200 women picked leaves across four villages by moonlight in autumn, when Darjeeling gardens are normally pruned rather than plucked. Around 10 kilos came out of that effort.
The lot was made at the request of a UK-based buyer. It was sold privately, not at the Kolkata auction, at a reported $5,000 a kilo, billed as a record for India. The report was published on 30 January 2025.
How we valued it: one trade report of a private sale, so treat it as approximate.
2. Manohari Gold from Assam: about $1,300 to $1,400 per kilo
Manohari Gold is a golden-tip tea from the Manohari estate in Dibrugarh, upper Assam. The estate sold it at 99,999 rupees a kilo at the Guwahati Tea Auction Centre in December 2021, about $1,300 at the exchange rate then. A private online sale was later reported at 115,000 rupees a kilo in December 2022, about $1,400.
How we valued it: the December 2021 winning bid at the Guwahati auction, converted to dollars at the time; the 2022 figure is a reported private sale.
3. Janat Paris Ceylon lot: about $840 per kilo
On 26 September 2025, at a charity auction in Osaka, the French tea house Janat Paris paid £6,237.50 (1,250,000 yen) for a lot of Flowery Broken Orange Pekoe Fannings Extra Special from the Vithanakande Estate in Sri Lanka. Guinness World Records certifies it as the most expensive tea sold at auction. Reports put the winning bid at 125,000 yen a kilo, about $840. The auction supported the families of tea pickers and aimed to fund their children’s education.
How we valued it: the certified lot price; the per-kilo figure is a reported price converted by us.
Legends we could not verify
Da Hong Pao from the six mother bushes on the cliffs of the Wuyi Mountains is often called the most expensive tea ever, with reported prices running into the hundreds of thousands of yuan per twenty grams. Sources disagree on the date and amount, and we found no auction record or sale document, so we do not rank it. A “panda dung” green tea has been quoted at tens of thousands of dollars a kilo, but that is a marketing price, not a completed sale. If either figure is accurate, both would sit far above the three teas above.
Records set in 2025 and 2026
- January 2025: Rimpocha Full Moon white tea reported at $5,000 a kilo.
- September 2025: Janat Paris lot certified by Guinness as the most expensive tea sold at auction.
- We found no new tea record in 2026.
What drives these prices
- Tiny lots. Ten kilos is enough to set a record price for a country.
- Charity and story. The Osaka sale sold a cause as much as a tea.
- Private deals. The highest prices happen off the auction floor, so they are hard to compare.
- Origin myths. Wuyi and panda stories carry prices that no sale confirms.
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What is the most expensive tea in the world?
With a documented sale, Rimpocha Silver Needles White Imperial Full Moon, reported at $5,000 a kilo in January 2025. Da Hong Pao is often claimed to be higher, but we found no sale record.
What is the most expensive tea sold at auction?
The Janat Paris Ceylon lot sold in Osaka on 26 September 2025 for £6,237.50, a Guinness record.
Is Da Hong Pao the most expensive tea?
Its reputation says so, but we could not trace a dated sale.
What is the most expensive Indian tea?
Rimpocha Full Moon from Darjeeling, at a reported $5,000 a kilo.
Why are record teas so small in volume?
Producers make a few kilos of unusual leaf for one buyer or event.
How we put this list together
We ranked teas by documented sales and auction results and put unverified prices in a separate section. Prices are approximate and change over time.
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Last updated: October 2026.
