The Tea Plantations

The history of tea on the island of São Miguel dates back to the 19th century, when the first seeds arrived.
Tea has been produced on the island since 1883 and since then it has maintained the traditions of cultivation, original production from the East and ancestral qualities.

The island of São Miguel once had a dozen factories in operation. Today, there are only two.
With plantations of more than 35 hectares and production of more than 30 tons a year, the Gorreana and Porto Formoso factories are true symbols of the island.

The humid and rainy climate, mild temperatures, acidic soils and volcanic origin are favorable conditions and have allowed the production and growth of the high quality tea business.

Tea is obtained from the dried leaves of the Camellia sinensis plant, a tree of the Theaceae family. When harvesting, the shoots of the plant are picked when it has three leaves. These leaves are transformed into one of the two main forms of tea – black and green.

Green Tea, Black Tea and Canto Tea are some of the examples of product lines marketed in the Azores.

Try them now, visit the factory and the plantations!