Gorreana Tea Plantation

Chá Gorreana is a tea plantation and factory in Maia, in the municipality of Ribeira Grande on the north coast of São Miguel, in the Azores. It has produced tea without interruption since 1883 and presents itself as the oldest tea plantation in Europe, run by the same family for five generations. The estate covers 32 hectares and produces around 33 tonnes of black and green tea a year from Camellia sinensis bushes that thrive in the island's humid climate.

The producer states that the tea is grown organically, without herbicides or pesticides, and local guides add that no fungicides are needed either, because the pests that usually attack tea do not survive in São Miguel's climate. Gorreana also reports using natural compost, techniques that prevent soil erosion and renewable energy in its facilities. The leaves are processed by the traditional orthodox method, withered, rolled, oxidised, dried and sorted in the factory, where the original machinery is still at work.

Visitors can walk freely through the tea fields, with views of the sea, and tour the factory rooms, the exhibition of old machines and tools, the tasting room and the shop; no booking is needed. The harvest runs from April to September. The estate lies on the regional road along the north coast, east of the town of Ribeira Grande, and is easiest to reach by car.