why is dandelion tea so costly?

we spent sunday packed in the crowds of the aroma festival... after our third cup of $1-tasters, we were already quite coffeed out...
out of the corner of my eye i spotted hari hari chai's dandelion root tea/coffee - and a small pack cost $18! (while the other chai was $4.50)...
i couldn't help but wonder... dandelions are classified as weeds?! why is dandelion tea so dear?
i went and DIYed some myself... i did my research... found out that there are no poisonous lookalike... there are however lookalikes eg cat's ear (also a weed, which is apparently more common) in the backyard...
dandelions are set apart from the other lookalikes by their non-hairy leaves with sharp-tooth corners... they are also single flower per rosette of basal leaves unlike the cat's ear which has branching flowers...
i dug up about a 4L icecream tub full of roots and leaves, about 10+ plants (with pretty small roots)... the hard work was washing and loosening the soil on the root and the subsequent trimming...

then, it was time for thier roasting (at 100 degrees celcius to begin with then 150)... i also roasted some barley (first rinsed and drained) at the same time, so not to waste the electricity...

dandelion roots looked abit like ginseng...

and the barley...

the roasting lasted for about 1 1/2 - 2 hours (with the 1st hour at 100 degrees)

the oven door was left ajar for steam to escape in the first hour with a chopstick

after the roasted roots / barley turned golden brown and filling the room with "coffee" aroma, it was time to grind... i used my food processor...

10 plants worth of root resulted in about 1 -2 tbsp full of dandelion root powder!

now i know why they are so costly in the shops!!!

the barley yield was much better... i was able to fill an old nesquick jar with my homemade barley powder...

and now the taste test...

dandelion root in strainer + hot water...

and a golden brew... i could certainly taste the slight bitterness... the taste did not justify all the hard work! so i'll be buying my dendelion root tea from now on... (or just make barley tea - cos it was less work and the tast wan't bad at all!)