Coffee and Silver in Portugal
 

A recent thread on coffee in Paris has me remembering that I like to bring home bricks of coffee. I usually go to a supermarket and choose either a brand I've seen before or if I don't recognize the brands then choose coffee with a black wrapper (I'm assuming the blend is richer and stronger than that in other color wrappers). Are there any suggestions for coffee brands or places to get some good coffee in Lisbon to bring home (I'll be in Lisbon at the end of the trip).

Is Portugal known for silver? I've recently been able to grow my nails and have polished my silver rings and would love to add to what I have. I particularly want to find a hammered silver ring or bracelet.

Obrigada!

I hope I don't offend anyone, and this is just my opinion, but I have never really acquired a taste for Portuguese coffee, and I am a pretty serious coffee drinker. In my experience it's more harsh/bitter than rich/strong -- but this is just my opinion. When I was living in Lisbon, we always bought our coffee at the Corte Ingles (this is a huge Spanish dept. store with a branch in Lisbon). They have a fabulous grocery store (except for fruit and vegetables, which are pretty and huge but tasteless in my experience). We wound up drinking their house brand coffee, which was Spanish. But they do have an excellent selection of Portuguese coffees, so you should definitely check it out and experiment. The Corte Ingles is very close to the Gulbenkian Museum, right at the Sao Sebastiao metro stop.

I know you didn't ask about salt or olive oil, but I'll throw out those suggestions anyway if you are considering foodstuffs to bring home. Portuguese salt is becoming a high-demand item because of a NY Times article: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/27/wo...ortugal&st=cse You can get sea salt from the Algarve in un-fancy packages for about a euro a sack, or in fancy packages for a couple of euros. I give them to a lot of people as gifts with a copy of the NYT article.

And the olive oil, OMG the olive oil is fabulous. I brought 9 liters home with me the last time I came. I think it is the tastiest olive oil I have ever had and there are tons of brands to choose from. Maybe I've been lucky, but I've never had any breakage -- there are lots of good 2 and 3 liter bottles in plastic and there are a few small quanties in cans. And I always wrap up at least one or two liters of oil in glass and keep my fingers crossed.

And sorry, I have absolutely no information about silver -- ceramics and weavings/embroideries maybe but not silver. Laurie

Thanks Laurie! I love both olive oil and salt so will definitely bring home some salt and will try to find olive oil in tins. A friend asked me to bring her some olive oil but I'm nervous about breakage in the suitcase. I'll reserve judgment on the coffee until I taste a few cups. I was so looking forward to some Portuguese coffee but not if it's bitter.

I shouldn't have predisposed you to thinking it was bitter -- I know lots of people who love Portuguese coffee, and the Corte Ingles has lots of Portuguese brands that come in very pretty packages (which makes them nice for gift giving).

And you shouldn't be afraid of olive oil in plastic bottles, I've never had one break yet! Laurie

Looks like I'm gonna need a bigger suitcase!

I loved the coffee in Portugal but I can't recommend a special brand. I like the lattes & cappucino. The pastries are also very good. I don't know about silver, but if you like ceramic tiles you can find fabulous antique tiles as well as newly manufactured tiles. I would check with the tourist bureau on the location of antique stores specializing in decorative tiles. The folk pottery and embroidery are also excellent.

Not sure about silver but I think Portugal is known for gold. I got some earrings there and they were a very high karat gold with an interesting almost orange color.

Well I will treat myself to something so thanks for all the suggestions. I'm definitely going to buy a piece of folk pottery. The ones I saw on the internet looked fabulous. I'm going to Redondo specifically for the pottery (someone suggested this town in a trip report).