2025: How Much Will You Spend on Tea This Year!?

My personal breakdown from past years:

2024 – $7178.49
2023 – $9947.51
2022 – $9466.96
2021 – $10399.22
2020 – $7920.87
2019 – $4791.51
2018 – $3929.54
2017 – $3805.50
2016 – $2034.13
2015 – $1998.46
2014 – $1466.61

Last year was pretty solid in terms of meeting the goals I set out! I had set a goal of spending less than 2023 with a loose target of under $8K and I managed to hit that with change! It was actually the lowest I’ve spent on tea/teaware since 2020, which feels pretty good.

I’ve found the last few years that keeping tabs on tea and teaware spending separately is very helpful, so I’m going to continue to do that in 2025. I did have a mini goal of not spending more than $3K on teaware this year and it was the only one I failed to meet, though I was close with only $120 over…

This year my goals are focused around minimizing spending and maximizing the amount of space in my apartment – I’m going fairly aggressive with them because I’ve seen this past year that I am capable of meeting those targets when I keep them top of mind.

GOALS:

1. Spend less than $6,000 TOTAL on both tea & teaware
2. Spend less than $2,500 TOTAL on teaware
3. No buying new mugs unless they are handmade from small/indie creators
4. No impulse purchases (ie. wait a minimum of 24 hours before ordering something)
5. Be more selective of what tea and teaware samples I bring home from work

January Purchases: $146.59
Volition Tea (Tea) $146.59

February Purchases: $605.74
Toronto Tea Festival (Tea + Teaware) $605.74

TEA SPENDING TOTAL: $550.42
TEAWARE SPENDING TOTAL: $201.91

GRAND TOTAL: $752.33

2019 total: $200
2020 total: $195.57
2021 total: $57.20
2022 total: $86.25
2023 total: $66.38
2024 total: $212.63

My goal is spending $0 in 2025.

My cupboards are bursting with tea, and I’m sipping as fast as I can, even gulping now and then. 2024’s spending was quite restrained, at $55, compared to sprees exceeding $1000 in prior years. And I hoped to have similar restraint in the new year.

However, it doesn’t look promising, as I could not even make it through the first week without a buy! As a lover of Taiwan’s black and dark oolongs made from the Ruby / Red Jade / TRES #18 cultivar from the Sun Moon Lake region, I was seduced by Tea Notes here on “A Different Eighteen” sold by Song Tea & Ceramics. And of course I had to round-out the order with a couple other of their offerings as well. So 2025 is off to a start! Reviews in due course.

2019 Total: $hundreds, all at Tealyra.
2020 Total: $hundreds, mostly on teaware (gaiwans & pots)
2021 Total: $1,000+
2022 Total: $1,800+
2023 Total: $0.00
2024 Total: $54.50
2025: $86.00 Song Tea & Ceramics (awaiting delivery)

Sorry for being an enabler! I hope you like that Ruby 18 as much as I did.

2019 $383.53
2020 $528.07
2021 $449.05
2022 $590.98
2023 $715.02
2024 $755.16

2025 $ (CAD)
$134.22 What-cha (26-January)

Jumping in again. I want to try to take it easier this year. Between me trying out a new to me vendor (which means lots of samples) and a lot of tea gifts in December, my stash is way too big and needs sipping down. I’m not even sure how much I have. There’s a bunch I don’t even know what it is and so haven’t been able to figure out how to add it to my inventory.

I’ve discovered that I don’t like being given tea as a gift. Its almost always something I don’t like and would never buy for myself, but I feel guilty for not wanting it. So I accept the gifts and it sits there either untouched or I end up drinking a lot of tea I don’t like trying to use it up and get it cleaned out.

So many rants tied up in those two paragraphs.

2021 total – $329.44
2022 total – $443.88 (+ gift cards – $190.75)
2023 total – $203.77 (+ gift cards – $84.25)
2024 total – $345.43 (+ gift cards – $100.12)

Jan
None

Running Total – $0

All values USD

Haven’t been keeping track of spending for the last few years, just because the feeling of being overwhelmed by having too many teas is far more of a contributing factor to my sipdown than the financial cost is.

But it could be interesting to keep track of, so here I am! Currently planning to do a no-buy for the first three months, and then re-evaluate from there based on where my cupboard is at. This does not include subscriptions though, which I am going to keep for the time being.

2025 TOTAL: $70.36
2025 subscriptions: $70.36
2025 purchases: $0

January: $35.18
Kyoto Obubu subscription – $19.18
Simpson & Vail subscription – $16.00

February: $35.18
Kyoto Obubu subscription – $19.18
Simpson & Vail subscription – $16.00

I don’t have spending goals. I’m more interested in tracking my spending through the months and years. It’s been interesting seeing the patterns. Total spending between 2018-2024 is $5082.98. That feels like a LOT of tea!

2018: 740
2019: 848.36
2020: 796.40
2021: 972.92
2022: 542.79
2023: 565.69
2024: 643.82

I’ve been really good with my tea spending the past couple years as well as the condition of my cupboard – not too big but with enough variety that i’m not bored. Once i drink up a few more teas this year, i may be in a position to have almost a default cupboard lol

2024: 567.35 CAD
2023: 171.18 USD 548.59 CAD
2022: 947.00 CAD; 171.53 USD
2021: 343.84 USD 432.54 CAD
2020: 387.45 USD; 683.35 CAD
2019: 288.89 USD; 120.33 CAD *mat leave
2018: 179.08 USD; 34.89 CAD *pregnant
2017: 317.27 USD 268.58 CAD
2016: 170.69 USD 170.21 CAD
2015: 1075.10 USD 206.21 CAD *paris trip
2014: 1320.42 USD 320.18 CAD

January
Taiwan Tea Crafts – 135.45 CAD

2025 Total: 135.45 CAD

Spending wise, this year hasn’t gone off to a great start. Hojo has been a bucket-list vendor for me since 2020, when shipping to Canada was about $50 instead of the $20 it cost last month. Nonetheless, I have a lot of tea to get through, and I mean a lot. Blame panic buying in the midst of the trade war chaos or my poor impulse control. The 2025 harvest hasn’t even started!

January:
Hojo: US$370.94 (560 g)

February:
Camellia Sinensis: $185.93 CAD (three competition sets, one cup, 131 g of tea)