Do you like tea or coffee? We all like tea – popular hot sweet drink. It is relaxing and bracing. Do Portuguese like drinking tea? Of course, they do. You should know that popular English tradition of 5 o’clock tea came from Portugal. Are you surprising? Listen…
Portuguese Tea
Portuguese were the first, who tried tea in 1543 when they were visiting Japan. They also became the first in Europe, who started growing tea plantations. Portuguese sorts of tea Gorreana and Porto Formoso are cultivating in the Azores. The tea of this region is considered to be bioclean. It is cultivating in special areas to be finished according to secret technologies and traditions. Portuguese tea is more than 250 years old. As a matter of fact, natives prefer drinking coffee to tea, tea is mostly for export.
Places to Drink Tea in Faro and Lisbon
Of course, you can hire a car in Faro and drive along the street in order to meet interesting charming place to get some tea. This is the game of chance. If you like tea or just want to taste a real aromatic Portuguese drink, there is a list of interesting tea salons, restaurants, cafes. Casa de cha is the name of tea house. This is the traditional name of eating establishments where you can enjoy different sorts of tea and tastiest desserts. Of course, the most of them are situated in Lisbon! Destination is not a problem for experienced drivers. Their names are:
Arco da Velha
This is the best cafe according to the clients’ feedbacks. You can try different sorts of tea – the tastiest in the city. The standard price for two persons is 15 EUR.
Address: Rua de Sao Paulo, 184/186, Cais do Sodre, Lisbon
Benard Cafe
Meet the oldest and glorious cafes in the center of the city. The standard price for two is about 30 EUR.Address: Rua Garrett, 104, Chiado, Lisboa
Palacete Chafariz D’El Rei
What a cozy place! This cafe boasts with interesting interior. It is situated in the building of private palace of the 19th century. The price for your visit is about 30 EUR.
Address: Travessa Chafariz D’El Rei, 6, Alfama, Lisbon
Confeitaria Nacional Cafe
This is the oldest confectionary in Lisbon. It was opened in 1829. This is the most elegant place in Europe! The prices are attractive – about 10 EUR.
Address: Praca da Figueira, 18 R/C, Lisbon
Dona Maria Cafe
The interior is elegant. Of course, it is situated in Sintra, close to Lisbon. The prices for two are about 45 EUR.
Address: Largo Ferreira de Castro, 3, R/C Esq., Sintra
The prices for tea in Portuguese are Central European. As you can see, Portuguese prefer coffee to tea. So, the price for espresso is about 60-90 EUR cents, for tea – 1.5 EUR. Want something for tea? You can buy sandwich and cakes for 1.5-4 EUR. So, easy lunch will cost you about 3-5 EUR for one person. Speaking about something more substantial, the price for light dinner is about 12-15 EUR. To dine in the restaurant you have to pay about 20-28 EUR, or 50-80 EUR for high-class dinner.
If you want to order tea with lemon in typical Portuguese cafe, you will get carioca de limao. It is not a usual tea, but aromatic citrons. It sounds strange, but black tea is not popular in Portugal.
Portuguese Coffee
The average daily dose of coffee for Portuguese is about 4-5 cups. They do not drink easy coffee with big cups. People prefer strong coffee from small cups. You usually call it espresso. Coffee for Portuguese people is traditional drink, cult drink. The cafe to drink coffee is called pastelaria. You can come in, drink a cup of coffee and go out on your business. Want something special? You can order coffee of that particular brand and read the name of that brand from your cup. The best-selling coffee brands are Delta, Sical, Buondi, Nicola, Camelo. The quality is high.
The price for one cup is about 0.60 EUR cents. Of course, the most popular cafes put 1-1.5 EUR for cup. Before starting your coffee tour, you should learn the names of popular Portuguese coffee drinks. It helps you to order right coffee and enjoy it alone or in a big company.
Right Coffee in Faro and Lisbon
Um cafe – standard espresso.
Um cafe duplo – double espresso.
Um cafe curto and um cafe cheio – this means a cup of espresso in small or very big dose. Um cafe curto is usually called Cafe Italiano.
Descafeinado – caffeine-free coffee.
Cafe pingado – espresso with a drop of cold milk.
Carioca cafe or so-called second coffee. This is a cup of light espresso.
Carioca de limao is not a coffee. This is sweet tasty citrons watered with hot water.
Um garoto – white espresso, or light coffee with milk.
Do you like coffee with milk? So, you should remember a couple of important phrases in Portuguese.
Um galao – latte.
Uma meia de leite – small cup of coffee with milk in 1:1 proportion. This drink is analogues to cappuccino.
Abatanado – Portuguese Americano.
Acucar – sugar.
Adocante – sugar substitute.
Oh, do not forget to order traditional Portuguese cake with coffee – pastel de nata.
What coffee means for you? If you think that it is enough to name the sort of coffee that you are going to drink to your waiter, you are wrong. Portuguese have many different names of coffee. For example, they can ask almost cheio or more than curto. They can also ask for escaldado – a cup that was treated the boiling water before coffee. There are many people, who ask for sem principio. Thus, coffee is light and sweet. Never miss your chance to get into the spirit of Portugal! There is nothing better than drinking coffee or tea, sitting in a cozy colorful place in the center of Faro or Lisbon, whatever.
Welcome to Portugal!