Tea, now enjoyed daily by millions of people throughout the world, is one of the oldest beverages in civilization. It was first used as a drink around the third century BC.
See Many legends surround the discovery of this soothing potion. It certainly was used in religious rites, rituals, and as a medicine (my grandma thought it was the cure for everything).
Native to China, it was prepared according to the period. The Tang Dynasty (620-907) boiled it, the Song Dynasty (960-1276) whisked it, and the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) infused it. By the fourteenth century, Japan began cultivating it and using it in many tea rituals, as they continue to do today.
In the 1800s, tea bushes were brought from Portuguese Macao to the Island of the Azores. In 1878, two skilled tea masters, Lau-A- Pan and Lau-A Teng, arrived in São Miguel to oversee production, and the bushes thrived. Gorreana was established in 1883.
As I approached the property, I passed rows and rows of well-trimmed bushes. Terraces of green sparkled in the sunlight, making for a picturesque pastoral scene.
Gorreana produces only green and black tea (Orange Pekoe) using age-old methods. Despite this being a popular tourist stop, I had the place to myself. Because I arrived around lunchtime, the machinery was idle. I would have liked to see the antiquated machines in operation. One machine had a beautiful copper plate, proclaiming that the British India Tea Company made it in the 1800s.
No one spoke English, but a tour guide is available by appointment. I just wandered around and found the whole place fascinating. The pungent odor of the plants was not unpleasant. At the end of the tour (arrows on the wall point the directions step-by-step), we sat and helped ourselves to tea and cookies.
The tea was good, despite it not being in a china cup. I bought a few boxes of tea from the little kiosk. Workers were milling around -- happy, smiling people who seemed content in their work. I did note that the majority of the workers were women. There is no charge for the tour, and from the testimonials pasted across the kiosk, this place is a popular tourist spot.
See Many legends surround the discovery of this soothing potion. It certainly was used in religious rites, rituals, and as a medicine (my grandma thought it was the cure for everything).
Native to China, it was prepared according to the period. The Tang Dynasty (620-907) boiled it, the Song Dynasty (960-1276) whisked it, and the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) infused it. By the fourteenth century, Japan began cultivating it and using it in many tea rituals, as they continue to do today.
In the 1800s, tea bushes were brought from Portuguese Macao to the Island of the Azores. In 1878, two skilled tea masters, Lau-A- Pan and Lau-A Teng, arrived in São Miguel to oversee production, and the bushes thrived. Gorreana was established in 1883.
As I approached the property, I passed rows and rows of well-trimmed bushes. Terraces of green sparkled in the sunlight, making for a picturesque pastoral scene.
Gorreana produces only green and black tea (Orange Pekoe) using age-old methods. Despite this being a popular tourist stop, I had the place to myself. Because I arrived around lunchtime, the machinery was idle. I would have liked to see the antiquated machines in operation. One machine had a beautiful copper plate, proclaiming that the British India Tea Company made it in the 1800s.
No one spoke English, but a tour guide is available by appointment. I just wandered around and found the whole place fascinating. The pungent odor of the plants was not unpleasant. At the end of the tour (arrows on the wall point the directions step-by-step), we sat and helped ourselves to tea and cookies.
The tea was good, despite it not being in a china cup. I bought a few boxes of tea from the little kiosk. Workers were milling around -- happy, smiling people who seemed content in their work. I did note that the majority of the workers were women. There is no charge for the tour, and from the testimonials pasted across the kiosk, this place is a popular tourist spot.
