tea for two in tokyo

i had heard of clipper tea, but stupidly never made my way to their web shop and discovered their full beauty. as i was strolling dangerously around the tempting aisles of national azabu on an empty stomach this afternoon, i bumped into a display of clipper products with their sleek packaging; flashing catchy words like 'organic' and 'fairtrade'. so i could hardly resist the 20 teabags of organic indian fairtrade chai. 'how outstanding and ethical of me to make such a purchase' i thought. 'what a fine upstanding citizen of this global community i am' i affirmed to myself. ' whoo hoo i had found something displaying the fair trade sticker and i am just going to go right ahead and buy it, what i rad person i am'.
upon arriving home i hurried to find the tea site. i clicked around the clipper on line shop searching for my new tea and others like it. my earlier feelings of self pride soon disappeared. global citizen my bum, in fact i was just a plane old sucker. 20 tea bags at national azabu cost 750 yen which is almost 9 aussie dollars and double the price that it is sold for online (1.69 pounds). perhaps my purchase is guaranteeing a better deal for developing country workers, it sure as hell is guaranteeing a better deal for the owners of national azabu.
buy online! clipper teas