How much does High Tea at Raffles cost?

What is the actual production cost of one cup of tea in India?

• Consider one cup volume = 100 ml. Please include the cost of sugar, tea leaves, milk, water and gas that goes into that cup. Is the tea sold in streets really worth Rs. 5?

• Answer:

  Let us calculate by each ingredient, shall we? Water = 90ml = free Sugar = 1 teaspoon = 5 grams at Rs.36/kg = Rs. 0.18 Milk = 10 ml at Rs.40/liter for good quality = Rs. 0.40 Tea leaves = 2 grams for light and 4 grams for strong tea at Rs.350/kg for good quality = Rs.0.7 for light to Rs.1.4 for strong tea - http://blog.steepster.com/post/93238418050/tips-for-measuring-dry-tea-leaf Fuel = assuming ambient temperature of 30 degrees Celsius, it would need 7 kilocalories ((100-30) degree Celsius * 100ml) to boil 100 ml of water as 1 calorie is required to raise the temperature of 1 ml of water by 1 degree Celsius. Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) has a calorific value of 11,900 Kcal/Kg (http://www.hindustanpetroleum.com/AboutLPG). So, we would need 0.5 grams of LPG for a cup of tea. 1 kg of commercial LPG costs approximately Rs.54 (Rs.750 for a 14kg cylinder). So, that translates to Rs.0.03/cup of tea. Considering inefficiencies and losses, let us say Rs.0.05/cup. Now let us add up the costs, 0.18 + 0.40 + 1.4 + 0.05 = Rs.2.03/cup.   All the calculations above are based on retail prices for good quality ingredients. When you consider wholesale prices and ingredients of slightly lower quality, the cost should be closer to Rs.1.5/cup. You also need to factor in the cost of labour involved in brewing the fresh cup of tea for you, on demand! I would say, Rs.5 is a fair price to pay a street vendor even when the cost of production comes to around Rs.1.5. Especially when you consider the fact that the Big Cola giants basically sell you water (more or less free), sugar (unhealthy and cheap), colors (unhealthy and cheap) and carbon dioxide (free) for Rs.20 for 600ml, where the production cost is less than Rs.2.   Read this for more details: