Did you know that tea is produced in Europe? Not in continental Europe but in the Azores islands, one of Portugal’s autonomous regions.
Gorreana, the family-owned company that produces tea in the Azores, has been in business since 1883 and is now producing an average of 33 tons of tea every year. Did one day someone in the Azores wake up with full knowledge of how to produce tea? Of course not! The full process was explained by two tea experts from China that visited the plantation in the 1870’s.
Gorreana teas are grown hundreds of miles away from industrial pollution with no use of pesticides, herbicides, fungicides or any other nasty stuff ending with -cides. You can visit their factory and sample their teas while you’re at it. Their tea varieties are: green, black, orange pekoe and broken leaf. The method is pretty much the same they used when they first started producing – that means you can enjoy your tea like any lord or lady from the late 19th century.
There are two websites for Gorreana and you can order from both. If you’re in Portugal you can find their teas at big supermarkets and gourmet shops.
Fancy a cuppa?
Photo courtesy: http://www.gorreana.org
. Thanks . I will be on the look our for the name …. i love black teas ,and up to now have only seen over priced tea imported from the UK , or poorweak tasteless brands .
Glad you liked it 🙂 I used to drink a lot of black tea in my university years, but now it’s really not, well, my cup of tea 😀 I like their green tea very much!
That’s an interesting story. Thanks. I like green tea too
Yes, most people have no idea that there are tea plantations in Europe 😉