Teahouses of São Miguel
okay! i have visited (almost) all of the places that were recommended to me and now I will try to give my honest review of each and what i had there. Rishi (my little sculpted doll) came with because he's my pocket tea expert.
Slide 1: White Peony loose leaf and an almond tea biscuit at Casa de Chá "**O Poejo**" in Sete Cidades. A beautiful setting, delicious loose leaf white tea (grown right in the area!), and extremely friendly employees. you can tell they are passionate about tea! This was my favorite place we went, and i even went back a week or so later for more white tea and orange pie (slide 7).
Slide 2: Gorreana Green at **O Roberto** in Ponta Delgada. They are very new! I purchased some Moaçor biscuits in their storefront and the chocolate ones might be my new vice. Mercifully you can buy them online. The tearoom is cute and peaceful despite being in the center of town, and offers a standard taste of the local Gorreana teas. My only real gripe here was the dribbly teapot lol. Staff were extremely good conversationalists and we talked tea for a bit!
Slide 3: Pekoe and a black tea/bergamot/cocoa biscuit at **Cha Gorreana** in Maia. The big plantation on the island! the factory smelled so so good. It was by far the busiest of all the places but it was really special for me, since it is the first tea plantation I have ever visited! Standard friendly service, lots of little biscuits, and best of all - free cups of black or green tea for visitors. I enjoyed walking through the rows of tea bushes too \^\^. Went back several days later and got a butter cookie with my free tea (slide 6).
Slide 4: Broken leaf black and coconut cake at **Cha Porto Formoso**... in Porto Formoso. This place straight up looks abandoned from roadside, we passed it twice trying to find the new location. It's not though! Go down through the gated path and there's a cute tree lined walkway to the teahouse at the bottom of the hill. We watched a short 5min documentary on this much smaller but very lovely plantation, and then got complimentary cups of tea. Service was quiet but kind, and we all but had the place to ourselves.
Slide 5: Cold brew white peony tea, locally smoked lapsang, and oolong (pictured) at **Chalet da Tia Mercês** in Furnas, courtesy of **Azores Essentials**. This one requires advanced booking! Got to try some local cheeses, jams, and other treats with a lovely selection of teas from the island. Our host was very knowledgable and informative, and gave us a history of the islands before we had our tea. Mind you, it was altogether a three and a half hour ordeal, so if you have a tight itinerary make sure you leave plenty of time for this. It was all and all a great experience, and I am glad we did it.
Slide 8: First pluck black tea at Terra Verde in Ponta Delgada. Almost didn't make it here! Service was very accommodating and the setting was cozy. Once again, we had the place to ourselves. I will say, i had to ask for a different teapot, as the first one I received left some mysterious grit floating in the tea (which was big loose leaf and definitely not the culprit) but they were great about it and no harm was done. They had the cutest little tea timer on the table, which was useful. Tea was good and i am glad i got to try it!
Slide 9: Masala chai and samosa at **Saffrron** in Ponta Delgada (honorable mention!) No idea why this place was dead at dinnertime. Service was great, and after two weeks of exploring Azorean cuisine, the food and drink here were comfortingly familiar. The tea's masala had very different flavors to the kind I am used to, but it was delicious! We ate outside, and the warm food with the cool night air was so refreshing. Highly recommend.
If you have any specific questions about the teas, I will try to answer!