YANDEX ZEN: HOW MUCH DOES BLACK CAVIAR COST AT TSUM?

Everyone knows TSUM, ordinary Muscovites' favourite shopping spot, right?
For those who do not: ordinary Muscovites arrive in Maybachs and Lamborghinis to buy a Chanel handbag or a watch costing as much as a three-room apartment in Gelendzhik. Surprisingly, until recently TSUM lacked the ultimate sign of having made it: a bar and shop serving nothing but black caviar. Now it has one. A few days ago, I attended Caviar Russia Moscow's opening to find out what black caviar costs at the heart of Moscow luxury.

First, I tried to find the most budget-friendly black caviar. “Budget-friendly”, that is…
TSUM's cheapest option costs just RUB 2,900 for a 30-gram jar of Astrakhan-brand roe obtained from live sterlet — RUB 99.6 per gram.
For reference, sterlet caviar is considered the least expensive, followed by Siberian sturgeon, Russian sturgeon and, most expensive, beluga.

Russian Sturgeon-brand caviar costs slightly more: RUB 3,350 for 40 grams, RUB 83.75 per gram, and RUB 4,200 for 50 grams, RUB 84 per gram.
Interestingly, this relatively inexpensive Siberian-sturgeon caviar is traditionally harvested rather than obtained from live fish, although the former is generally more expensive.
There are two caviar-harvesting methods: roe is removed after the fish is killed and opened, or extracted from a live fish that is subsequently returned to its habitat. The live-fish method can produce caviar up to six times during a fish's lifetime.

Caviar obtained from live fish is considered less valuable and costs less than traditionally harvested caviar.
Caviar Classic, obtained from live sterlet, starts at RUB 4,450 per 50-gram jar — RUB 89 per gram.
Caviar Premium, traditionally harvested Russian-sturgeon caviar, ranges from RUB 6,500 for 50 grams to RUB 32,400 for 250 grams — RUB 130 per gram.
Belarusian Admiral Husso costs “slightly” more: RUB 4,100 for 30 grams of sterlet caviar, RUB 136 per gram, and RUB 8,800 for 50 grams to RUB 44,000 for 250 grams of sturgeon caviar, RUB 176 per gram.

Next, Uruguayan black caviar. Do not be surprised: Uruguay also farms sturgeon, and its caviar often wins first place in blind tastings!
Uruguayan caviar costs about as much as Belarusian: RUB 33,250 for 250 grams, RUB 133 per gram.
There is also Crimean black caviar, starting at RUB 4,900 for 50 grams of roe obtained from live Russian sturgeon, RUB 98 per gram.

Which black caviar is TSUM's most expensive?
Belarusian albino-sterlet caviar — white black caviar — costs RUB 7,650 for 30 grams, RUB 255 per gram.
The most expensive is roe obtained from live beluga: RUB 39,250 for 125 grams, RUB 314 per gram.

In summary, black caviar at TSUM ranges from RUB 2,900 for the smallest 30-gram jar to RUB 44,000 for a substantial 250-gram jar.
The cheapest gram costs RUB 84, and the most expensive RUB 314.

One more thing: eating black caviar with a metal spoon is considered terribly bad form, as contact with metal diminishes its taste. If you choose to taste the good life by the spoonful, use silver, mother-of-pearl or, better still, plastic…

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