An illustrious, five-star London hotel – perhaps best known for its Royal Afternoon Tea overlooking The Royal Mews at Buckingham Palace – has announced its new offering: the UK’s most expensive cup of tea.

Now, The Rubens at The Palace will offer a 500-pound (approximately $883) pot of tea alongside scones, pastries and finger sandwiches. Let it be known that one pot, tea lovers, amounts to about three small cups of tea.

So, what’s in this pricey pot? Well, the hotel has partnered with PMD Tea to provide a ‘rare, fine Ceylon Golden Tips blend’ produced in the highlands of Sri Lanka. Named ‘The Rubens Golden Tips Tea’, the tea has a smooth, light, mellow texture with hints of fruity notes.

It’s no secret that the British adore their tea, and it seems the price tag on the golden-tipped variety is nothing new: in fact, in 1891, a pound of Golden Tips was sold for the equivalent of £1,260.

To prepare the tea, expert tea pluckers hand pick the tips of the small shoots of a special tea plant – specifically at sunrise, no less. Next, the precious buds are dried under the sun on a, ahem, velvet cloth, turning the buds from silver to gold.

In case you were wondering, there is no actual gold in this tea.

At The Rubens, white-gloved waiters will use gold tweezers to pick the leaves and weigh them. Then, the tea will be infused using still natural mineral water and poured from a silver tea set. 

The Royal Afternoon Tea is served in The Rubens’ Palace Lounge daily from midday – 5pm (and until 6pm on Saturday). The Afternoon Tea is priced from £45 per person, and The Rubens Golden Tips Tea is priced at an additional £500 per pot. rubenshotel.com