(CNN) — It’s no secret that the British are very serious about their tea.
The Rubens at The Palace is now serving a rare tea blend for £500 ($620) per pot, which works out to around $200 a cup.
Produced in the highlands of Sri Lanka, Golden Tips is hand-picked by expert tea-pluckers and sundried on a velvet cloth, which turns the buds from silver to gold.
Expensive blend
Golden Tips tea is produced in the highlands of Sri Lanka.
Courtesy The Rubens At The Palace
The pricey tea is only available at The Rubens, where diners can sip it while overlooking The Royal Mews at Buckingham Palace.
A pot can be bought alongside the hotel’s Royal Afternoon Tea menu, which costs around $55 per person.
Once ordered, the serving process involves something of a regal ceremony, which is perhaps just as well giving its staggering price tag.
Ceremonial service
It’s served to customers using gold tweezers and a special silver tea set.
Courtesy The Rubens At The Palace
First gold tweezers are used to pick the leaves and “weigh them with precision,” then the tea is brewed using still natural mineral water, before being poured out using a special silver tea set.
Customers are encouraged to drink it before indulging in any sandwiches or scones, in order to savor its flavor fully.
And while $620 a pot may seem a high price to pay, Golden Tips has actually sold for a lot more in the past.
Back in 1891, a pound of the tea was apparently sold for the equivalent of $1,500.