Periodically I get such a question in different forms. And indeed, a person who comes to the store or studies the assortment of the site and sees several identical positions, but with different prices, needs to understand why the price is different and what does it depend on?
Well, that is, you go into the store and see 30 Puer on the shelf, in different packaging, but the name is the same, one costs 1000 rubles, the other 5000, and which one is better, but is the one that is more expensive better or maybe the seller is cheating?
Let's figure it out!
Take, for example, Pu-erh, which everyone loves very much. This beautiful tea grows in Yunnan province. Yunnan Province has a fairly large territory where a huge amount of tea is grown and it grows in different conditions. In Yunnan there are mountains where tea grows, and there are more flat places. There are just old trees, and there are old trees that are more than 200-300 years old. Old trees are certainly enough, but there are much fewer of them than just trees, respectively, the price of tea from old trees is much higher, but both will eventually be puer. It should also be said that among tea lovers, pu-erh from old trees is valued higher. And now imagine that some trees grow on the plain, and others grow high in the mountains, about 2000 meters above sea level, the price of such tea immediately increases. There are also certain villages and places that are known all over the world and, accordingly, tea from these places is even more expensive because it has a territorial affiliation, but in fact it is also Pu-erh. Yes, the pancake will indicate where this tea is collected from and from what raw materials it is made, but nominally it is also Pu-erh. And yet, the harvest collected in such popular locations is of course limited, it simply cannot be enough for everyone and this also affects the price.
As for taste, there is also often a dependence of price on quality. As a rule, tea that is made from good raw materials collected in the highlands will be different if compared with tea of the same variety, but which grew somewhere on the plantation is not so high. In Sheng Puers, you can even distinguish characteristic taste profiles depending on the place where this tea was collected, some are dominated by sweetness, others have a light but pleasant astringency, turning into coolness, etc.
I don't want to say now that you only buy expensive tea and it will be bingo right away, no. I wanted to say that tea with the same name can be from different places, it has a different quality of raw materials, which often affects the taste, aroma, aftertaste and many other moments when brewing tea. Often tea lovers have something for every day, but there is a ceremonial tea, the difference in these teas is clear and it is expressed in the emotions that tea gives, it is a huge range of flavors that fill the room, the overflow of taste and a whole palette of lingering aftertaste, it is these teas that are often more expensive.
I advise you to take and try, compare, so that it is clear what you like more and whether it is justified in your opinion.
This difference is not always obvious after the first brewing, but it is worth trying to understand and find a tea close to your taste, discover something new.
And don't forget that different worlds can hide under the same tea)