Tea shops · Albuquerque, United States
Tea shops · Albuquerque, United StatesNew Mexico Tea Company
A shop on Mountain Road that has weighed out loose tea by the ounce since 2006, with more than 300 teas on the wall.
Every price here is for a single ounce, so a first visit can leave with six teas for what one tin costs elsewhere.
New Mexico Tea Company has stood on the corner of Mountain Road and Twelfth Street, between Old Town and Downtown, since November 2006. David Edwards and his mother Dianne opened it with credit cards and the idea of bringing loose tea to the Southwest. It started in a single room and now occupies the whole building. Dianne has retired, David runs the online side from Nagaland, near the Assam border, and Shawn, on the team since 2011, runs the shop.
The catalogue runs to more than 300 loose teas across white, green, oolong, black, pu-erh and yellow, plus close to a hundred single herbs and spices and the blends the house makes from them, everything weighed out by the ounce. The list is deep in classics: an organic English Breakfast blend of Indian, Ceylon and Chinese leaf, a Grand Keemun from Anhui, a Long Jing from West Lake, a Tie Guan Yin that the shop describes as sweet and thick with an orchid finish, and an organic Da Hong Pao from the Wuyi mountains. Cream Earl Grey, the house says, is its most popular tea.
The shop is open every day from 10am to 6pm, and the same catalogue ships nationwide. Because the unit is the ounce, the black teas start at $3.25 and most of the oolongs sit under $8, which makes this the easiest place in the city to compare teas side by side. The house says its floor staff will put three teas in front of you and explain how each differs; if you walk in without a plan, name one tea you have liked and start there.
- prices
- 6
- tea types
- 3
- from
- US$ 3.25
- shops
- 1
Where it is
Mountain Road
1131 Mountain Rd NW, Albuquerque, NM 87102
Hours: Daily 10:00–18:00
What to buy here
Cream Earl Grey
Cream Earl Grey
US$ 3.25 · 1 oz
The house's most popular tea by its own account: a classic Earl Grey rounded out with vanilla cream notes over the bergamot, and the cheapest ounce on this list.
See our page on this tea →Tieguanyin
Tie Guan Yin
US$ 4.50 · 1 oz
A rolled green-style Tie Guan Yin that the shop describes as sweet and thick with an orchid aftertaste, and that holds up to many re-steepings.
See our page on this tea →Keemun
Grand Keemun | Organic
US$ 4.25 · 1 oz
An organic Keemun from Anhui with notes of cocoa, toast and a twist of smoke: the black tea to try if English Breakfast already feels familiar.
See our page on this tea →
The one worth the trip
Da Hong Pao | Organic
US$ 7 · 1 oz
Da Hong Pao, Big Red Robe, is a deep-roasted rock oolong from the Wuyi mountains of Fujian, nutty and rich with sweet undertones. The shop suggests brewing it the traditional way: a brief rinse poured off, then short infusions of about a minute, re-steeping the same leaves several times as the cup changes. An ounce is enough for a few evenings of that, and it is priced here at a fraction of what a rock oolong usually costs by the tin.
See our page on this tea →All prices
Open a tea to see who else sells it.
| Tea | Type | Price | Size |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cream Earl Grey | Black tea | US$ 3.25 | 1 oz |
| English Breakfast | Organic | Black tea | US$ 3.75 | 1 oz |
| Grand Keemun | Organic | Black tea | US$ 4.25 | 1 oz |
| Tie Guan Yin | Oolong tea | US$ 4.50 | 1 oz |
| Long Jing (Dragon Well) | Green tea | US$ 6 | 1 oz |
| Da Hong Pao | Organic | Oolong tea | US$ 7 | 1 oz |
Teas you can find here
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