Violet Volcanic Tea

São Miguel, the largest island in the Azorean archipelago, is home to many natural delights, from the emerald hills of tea plants that grow in its lush, subtropical landscape, to the hot springs and calderas that thicken the air with steam. In the island’s small town of Furnas, these wonders combine in a strikingly purple tea. 

A great place to experience this unique brew is Chalet de tia Mercês, a Furnas-based space that provides educational experiences on the Azores. The Chalet, located in a former 19th-century bathhouse, offers classes and tastings on everything from the area’s geothermal wonders to local honey, water, wines, and tea. As part of their tea-tasting, servers mix Azorean green tea leaves with Furnas hot-springs water. The combination of the tea and the mineral-rich spring water yields a luminous, violet-hued brew with earthy, with clay-like notes.

Geothermal heat is employed in making more than just tea at the Chalet. Though the menu varies by season, availability, and what experience visitors choose, past offerings have included rhubarb and citrus-banana cakes, savory puddings, and spiced oatmeal—all delicately steamed to perfection inside Furnas’s calderas. The Chalet also offers a masterclass in geothermal cooking where guests can learn to make cozido das caldeiras, a stew that gets slow-cooked in the area’s calderas.