Old Barrel Tea Co

Old Barrel Tea Co is a family company from New Mexico run by Dana, Nenada, Bailey and Paola. It opened its first shop in the mountain town of Ruidoso with twelve teas and a few cases of honey in a building so large that wine barrels and antiques were brought in to fill it, which is where the name comes from. All the tea is blended in Albuquerque, and the company has since grown to shops in New Mexico, Colorado and Arizona, including two in this city: one in ABQ Uptown at 2241 Q St NE and one in Old Town.

The catalogue is built around Southwestern blends with names like Green Chile Biscochito, Tropical Cinnamon Sangria or Banana Bread Coffee Pu Erh, but underneath them sits a plain range sold the same way: a tin first, then a quart jar or a bagged quart. Sencha Green is a clean, grassy Japanese green; Jasmine Green is a traditional scented green; the Roasted Oolong is a Ti Kwan Yin from China given an extra roast for toasty, nutty notes; and the Aged Pu Erh is a ripe shou from Yunnan. A South Indian black and a yerba maté round out the shelf.

The Uptown shop opens Monday to Thursday from 11am to 6pm, Friday and Saturday from 10am to 7pm and Sunday from 11am to 6pm; the Old Town shop is listed on the company's site without published hours. Both offer tea and honey tastings every day, and the shops also sell raw honeys, spices, Mexican vanilla products and teaware. A seasonal tea club ships a box of blends four times a year, and everything in the tins can be ordered online.