The $20 Bottle of Tea

I have never shopped at whole foods. There is not one close to where I live. But $20 is a bit high for some tea, even if its sparkling. I think that I will buy the 4 bottles at a time.

Can I taste test first? Can they send me a small sample bottle?

BEFORE everyone starts complaining, lets be realistic please, I just went through the process of attempting to order online 4 bottles direct at wholesale price of 12.95 US direct from producer of Golden Star tea:

--- 12.95 US ( about 14.00 cdn )
--- add GST, plus duty, cdn customs : GST, provincial sales tax and duty, total : say 10%, TOTAL 15.50 cdn

WENT on FEDEX site, and also DHL, quote...San Francisco to Vancouver, 4 bottles , about 6kg, packed on minimum 10kg FEDEX rate...cost: 102.16 US dollars..

Plus a 30 dollar fee to have custom clearance, by custom broker, as product has " trace alcohol" 0.5%...

total shipping 132.16 US: CDN:

approx: 140 cdn..

So cost per unit: 35 cdn dollars per bottle to ship + cost and all duty of 15.50 cdn..

So buy direct online at total for 50.50 per bottle or buy at Wholefoods for 19.99 cdn ( By the way I baught it at 17.99 )....

Goes to show , unless a product is made in your backyard there are all these hidden costs...

And yes, there are all products to suit everyone...

There are 10 dollar bottles of wine, and 50 dollar bottles of wine...etc...

Definitly given there is no competition for Golden Star Sparkling tea, 17.99 or 19.99 is certainly reasonable for my tastes... ( love it with Grey Goose!!)...

By the way, We all can buy Grey goose direct ( if allowed in Canada) for 11 dollars CDN, but time add shipping, Excise tax, Duty, customs clearance , we pay 50 dollars retail... ( but of course not allowed in Canada)

There is Smirnoff for some people and regular occasions, and Grey Goose , Hangar One, and other Luxury vodkas for others and special occasions!!

Cheers all!! and Enjoy!!

Your link to website to purchase online is not applicable for Canada...

And if you order it, the per unit cost would be way more than 19.99 a bottle.

--- Add transport
--- Risk of breakage
--- Custom duty tax

Good luck getting it for 12.95 US!!

The Golden Star tea is a one of a kind product, Nothing like it in the Market. Its not mass produced High fructose corn syrup " guk" pop.....

The Silver needle is only harvested during a very short period of time, Organic ingredients, and the 730ml bottle has a fraction of the calories calories of a single serving regular pop. More importantly the carbohydrates is withing limits of anyone who may have issues with low sugar diets!!

Itsd a one of a kind very unique product, you pay what you get for it, rich in anti oxidants coming from the White tea..

Process same as wine making, stopping the fermentation early before higher alcohol content...

makes great MARTINI's.. " Jasmine martini"s...

It is now also Kosher certified...and if for religious reasons you cant drink alcohol or health reasons, or the whole family can enjoy,, DRINK RESPONSIBILY,

Great with seafood...and on its own...

DONT criticize the product without trying it, or knowing the background..

You want your regular POP, HIGH fructose corn syrup, stick with all the mass produced prodcuts out there!!

There are prodcuts for everyone, expecially those of us, who are willing to pay extra for Healthy living!!

I used to shop at Whole Foods until my brother-in-law told me that their everything is very overpriced and that you could buy the same quality produce at Chinatown for a fraction of the cost. I'm not surprised at all that a bottle of sparkling tea costs $20 at Whole Foods. He was an accountant at Whole Foods. Note was and not is an accountant. He went on to work for a pharmaceutical company after being disenchanted by the company's "organic" slogan. I now shop at Trader's Joe.

I think that is a wonderful product idea and brand.
Very unique. Has anyone every heard of Prosperity Tea? its also Jasmine leaves from Fijian - China . 88 Checkotu my link ;-)

Wow!

I would love to try that to drink that after one or two drinks, so I can keep drinking without the drunk or the hangover.

Cheers!

I once spent $40 on a bottle of water. On purpose! I wouldn't dare to it now, but back then I didn't care about my money. haha....Bling H20 it was/is called. If you like pretending you're a celebrity, then this water is for you.

It's funny that you call Whole Foods Whole Paycheck. They tried buying a Wild Oats store in Melbourne FL that had been here for years. It was an EPIC FAIL and now were without a really nice organic market in this area.

$20 bottle of tea, with a million dollar view in those pictures!

Hey John,

Those minimum four bottles are too much for me. So I will say no thanks.

However the thing that I will compliment is that the bottle looks pretty wonderful. And that's all about it.

Yum, this tea sounds really good - most of the other stuff on the market these days is total crap. I can't stand those teabag things - Yuck!

I think I'll have to try this Golden Star tea soon - hopefully my local grocery store has it. I'm not too optimistic about that though as this is the first time I've even ever heard of this brand.

Isn't it expensive? Hehehe I loved to drink tea. Gonna get some bottle later.

The concept is quite simple; jasmine green tea that’s been brewed and then mildly fermented in the same way you would a sparkling wine and the end result is a non-alcoholic beverage that will leave your taste buds surprised and wanting more.

The product has been a huge hit in the U.S. for a while now, but the product just made its entry into Canada.

It''s a tea and yet is expensive... I bet the test is good is it JC?

That is ridiculous, I wouldn't pay it. But then again I'm a scrooge. :)

Another post to show that John simply love food ... you have got good taste John ...

Thankfully I dont drink Tea, yet~

I first thought it was wine, but once I looked closer I noticed it was sparkling tea!! I've never drank sparkling tea untill now! I should give it a try!

nice tea.. i wonder how it taste .. good or just expensive on the bottle

All about marketing. Get some exposure from celebrities and people will buy this stuff even at $20.

I kind of laugh at all you guys who get so pissed off at someone buying $20 bottle of tea.
Clearly you cannot afford it.
Then just pass. The product is not right for you.
Unfortunately, it is targeted at the different customers, who indeed can afford that and would not even notice the expense.
This is the world we live in.
What about Sudan?
And people dying out of thirst? The supply of water for the whole day for one person costs there $0,25.
These are the differences in todays economy.
Stick to what you can afford. Do not get pissed off at $20 bottle of tea. Be glad you do not need to beg for $0,25 water.

Surely. it is the most expensive tea in the world. :D

Ya, I would too, i think the most will be $5 in a restaurant for a bottle of tea.

Whole Paycheck - great (and accurate) nickname. All the more reason to support your local health food store and farmer's markets!
At first it appears to be a strange colored wine in a bottle, but that bottlecap is a dead giveaway. And I can think of a ton of excellent wines that are less than 20 bucks a bottle!
Seems like Golden Star is all about the bling-ka-ching.

What, I rarely pay $20 for a bottle of wine. There's a killer Riesling I get at our local produce store that also sells specialty foods that's $12, I can't imagine spending $20 for a bottle of freaking TEA!

"Whole Paycheck." I like it. Never shop there myself, usually go to 99 Ranch. Best selection and cheapest prices.

I would think coming from you, you would check what you buy and the price. Wouldn't you recommend us to do that? :D

-Mike

A lot of that price is surely marked up. But people who love tea and have the money will buy it. People like to buy expensive things, simply because, they are expensive. It makes people feel important and elite.

Crazy expensive tea but not bad compared to that MonaVie acai drink which is like $40!

Sounds nice, but I'll just go to the local convenience store and buy a whole gallon of Red Diamond sweet tea for less than $3.

I don't even pay that much for a good bottle of wine. Yup, definitely check the proces in WholePayCheck. LOL :)

$20 for huge bottle of tea is out of my mind.