Bottomless Iced Tea
I like iced tea as much as the next Filipino. It’s my default drink whenever choosing one from a long menu becomes too much of a hassle. Throw in the word “bottomless,” and it becomes a no-brainer.
The thing that fascinates me most about bottomless drinks is the impression that I will never end up being lugi. Taking it to the extreme, if I drink large enough quantities, the cost of the beverage per unit consumed will approach zero. I, on behalf of my pocket, find that very reassuring.
However, I can’t get rid of this uneasy feeling that I’m ordering something that I myself can make without any real effort. (It’s almost like ordering Lucky Me instant noodles in a restaurant.) Having this apprehension, I decided to investigate its economic merit.
I went to our neighborhood’s grocery store and gathered some relevant data. Using the largest packs of different brands as basis, I found out the following:
- The average price of powdered iced tea is 129 pesos per kilogram.
- Around 2.25 tablespoons of powder is needed per 300-mL glass. (Converted from instructions on making a 200-mL glass.)
- The average density of iced tea powder is about 16 grams per tablespoon. (Calculated using info written on some packs along the lines of “Makes XX glasses of thirst-quenching goodness”.)
Using this data, I got P 4.64 as the cost of iced tea powder in one 300-mL glass.
Next is the cost of water. From where we buy distilled water, the cost is P 50 for 5 gallons (18.93 liters). That’s P 0.79 per 300-mL glass. For simplicity, let’s assume the ice costs just as much because of the energy needed to get it to the solid state.
This brings the total cost of ingredients to 4.64 + 0.79 + 0.79 = 6.22 pesos. This would be the cost of a 300-mL glass of iced tea if I made it at home myself.
Doubling that figure to account for the non-ingredient considerations (like labor, profit margin, etc.), I get P 12.44. That’s still much cheaper than softdrinks and if I am to trust this rather rough, unscientific study, then drinking 4 glasses of iced tea for a 40-peso bottomless order should put my economical conscience (a.k.a. mom’s voice) at ease.
while we’re on that subject, try computing for Starbucks’ mark up for their iced tea
haha. I hate to admit it, but Starbucks is an evil empire
Haha! That’s why I don’t go to Starbucks!
Haha my dad and my sister just bought Starbucks in bottles from S&R! They’re about as expensive as the ones you order too (only a bit cheaper, and the bottles are pretty, admittedly).
So just divide the price (don’t forget service charge haha) by 10 to get the number of glasses you need to drink to break even? Haha, that’s an easy rule to remember. :))
It’s a good thing then that I usually drink about 4 glasses whenever I get bottomless iced tea. At least. Haha!
malaki talaga patong sa iced tea at ibang drinks! It’s really cheap to make it. Sometimes mas mahal pa yung cups (kung plastic cups).
yup, naalala ko yung iced tea sa picky eaters. 10 pesos. ang computation ko sa total cost nun e 2.64 (cup + water + powdered iced tea)
Yeah I agree we could make it even cheaper by making the glass smaller, diluting it, and choosing the cheapest iced tea powder. Come to think of it, we could even just use brown sugar. Haha.