De Theefabriek
The Tea Factory

**Tucked away in the village of Houwerzijl lies the only tea factory in the Netherlands with a vast menu and a museum. **

De Theefabriek Tearoom

Held inside the former church of Houwerzijl, De Theefabriek is a beautiful tearoom and museum. Popular with trekkers and cyclists exploring the province, the tearoom has over 300 teas to choose from. Not a tea fan? There’s coffee on the menu, too, plus snacks and cakes. Take a break and sip a cuppa. De Theefabriek is worth a visit alone for the fact that it is the only tea factory in the Netherlands, but there’s a couple of extras that make this place extra special.

• The tearoom has hundreds of teas available; white tea, black tea, green tea, herbal teas - OK, “tea” doesn’t look like a real word anymore. You get the idea. You’re spoiled for choice. The tearoom also has plenty of fingerfood like scones, cupcakes, and pastries to go alongside your teapot. Plus waffles and sandwiches, yum! Afternoon tea packages are available.
• The best seats in the house are at the top of the church tower where you get a nice view of the village from above. This is the Towering Tea experience (“Torenkamer”) for a maximum of two people. There’s even a rope to call up room service. Great for a romantic date!
• De Theefabriek really is pretty! The Tea Factory is located inside the former 19th century church of Houwerzijl. The owners bought the church in 1989 for the amazing price of 1 guilder. What a steal! Of course, the price was more symbolic than anything. Still, real estate has changed a lot since then and that’s the real tea.

The Tea Museum

The tearoom is the most well-known part of this place, but that’s not all there is to see. Get all your tea related questions answered! The museum is small, but worth a look for tea lovers. Discover the origins of tea, how we drink tea across the globe, and much more. You’ve definitely got a niche, off the beaten track museum here.

• De Theefabriek’s tea museum has a pretty big collection of all things tea related from tea canisters to information panels on the origins of tea bags. During the museum visit, there’s also a short video about tea to give you a quick intro on the history of tea.
• There are information panels throughout the museum in Dutch, German, and English.
• Tickets to the tea museum can be bought in the tea room. The museum itself isn’t very big, so we wouldn’t say it’s a must visit but it is a nice extra if you have the time.