Pricey tea a growing niche crop in US, even Canada

A chance encounter with South Carolina tea drew him into the growing ranks of North American farmers from Mississippi to British Columbia who are growing tea for the high-priced specialty market.

There's money to be made because more Americans are willing to pay premium prices for what they consider top quality, tea consultant Nigel Melican said in a phone interview from Bedford, England.

The specialty tea market is growing 8 to 10 percent a year, according to Peter F. Goggi's 2015 market review for the Tea Association of the U.S.A. Inc. Such teas are particularly attractive to millennials, who "find delight in the discovery of new and differentiated flavors, ethnic or new cultural offerings and craft selections," he wrote.

[...] a 4-ounce box of 50 Lipton black tea bags can be found online for $3, while Connecticut-based Bigelow Tea sells the South Carolina-grown product at $7.95 for a box of 12 tea bags weighing less than an ounce.

Light of Day Organic Teas in Traverse City, Michigan, where plastic-covered "hoop houses" shelter tea plants eight months of the year, sells its home-grown white tea for $256 a pound or $32 for a 1.5-ounce tin.