TEA TIME IN THE AZORES

A fascinating visit to Chá Gorreana, a tea plantation and processing factory established in the 19th century and still thriving today. The tea is really delicious,grown in these perfect temperatures with pure sea air and mineral rich water flowing through volcanic soil.

For me the most fascinating part of the visit to Gorreana, besides the spectacular vistas of tea plantations and blue sea and sky, was to walk around the vintage 19th and early 20th century tea processing machinery which was originally made by British engineering companies for the tea industry in India. All in perfectly maintained order and still used today. The "latest" innovation is an American tea bag machine from the 50s. The tea processing was not in action during our visit in October but starts again in the spring until September.

Chá Porto Formoso http://www.chaportoformoso.com/ is on the main road between Ribeira Grande and São Brás. It opens 10am-5pm, Monday to Saturday, entrance is free.


Chá Gorreana ; http://www.gorreana.com / is 1.5km along the same road just beyond the turning for São Brás. It opens 9am-6pm daily; entrance is free.

Gorreana, the older of the two and by far the bigger operation, has been growing tea since 1883, and is one of the original 19th-century Azorean tea producers. According to the time of year, it is possible to have a look at all the different stages of tea production, from picking - a mechanical procedure which takes place during the drier months between April and September - to packing, which is done by a group of local women sitting at tables, shoveling piles of tea leaves into packets. In between are several vital stages: wilting; an hour-long rolling process which starts to crush the leaf; three hours' fermentation and a 20-minute drying period at a temperature of 100c, this creates black tea, green tea is produced from the same leaves but they are steamed early on in the process to stop fermentation. The seeds from which the original Azorean tea bushes grew are thought to have been brought to São Miguel by a commander of the Portuguese Royal Guards, returning home after a tour of duty in the Brazilian city of Rio de Janeiro in the early 19th century. At first, the bushes were grown for their ornamental value; it wasn't until a virus threatened to decimate the orange-growing industry on the islands more than half a century later that experts were brought over from China to introduce the Azoreans to the fine art of tea production. São Miguel, with its rich volcanic soil and temperate climate proved a fertile environment for the bushes. Plantations were established, and 14 factories opened up around the island before the turn of the century.

The tea experience at Gorreana ends up in what  appears to be the works canteen, a small area where visitors and workers can  help themselves to a cup of tea, before getting back to work or setting off to  explore more of the island.