What a cup costs you three ways: loose leaf you brew yourself, tea bags, and a cup bought at a cafe or tea house. Loose leaf gets cheaper with every re-steep, so the calculator counts them.
The starting numbers are example values, not market prices. Replace them with what you pay.
A $20, 50 g pouch is $40 per 100 g
Rishi counts 4–5 g per 8 oz serving
Western 2–6, gongfu 5–20 (Mei Leaf averages)
One cup per bag
Maths: loose leaf cost per cup = price per 100 g ÷ (100 ÷ grams per session × cups per session). Bags = box price ÷ bags. Yearly = per cup × cups per day × 365. Water, milk, sugar and teaware are not counted.
A dose of loose leaf is not one cup. Mei Leaf’s brewing chart averages 2 to 6 western infusions and 5 to 20 gongfu infusions depending on the tea, so a 5 g gongfu session of oolong can pour nine small cups. Set cups per session to how you actually brew; at 1 the calculator assumes you throw the leaf out after one steep.
Not sure how much leaf you use? The tea ratio calculator gives grams for your cup or gaiwan.
Every figure on this page was checked against the linked source on October 1, 2026.