Auctions

The major Tea auction centres around the world are in Calcutta - India, Mombasa - Kenya, Colombo - Sri Lanka and Jakarta - Indonesia, each of which holds a weekly auction.

Selling brokers catalogue the teas that are coming up for sale and send samples of those teas, called lots, to buyers around the world.

The buyer will taste and grade each lot and place a valuation on the ones that are of interest. Each lot is sold separately in the auction, varying from 3 to 5 lots sold per minute, and goes to the highest bidder.

Once a bid has been successful the buyer can then make arrangements to have the tea shipped to the country it will be consumed in.

Shipping times vary depending on the country of origin; teas bought in Sri Lanka can arrive in the UK three to four weeks after they have been bought, whilst tea coming from Indonesia can take five weeks to arrive.