Old Barrel Tea Company: Albuquerque, NM

If you love a good cup of tea, this place is a must see. Old Barrel Tea Company located in quaint Old Town Albuquerque specializes in high quality loose leaf tea.

Their teas go from the expected to the original. A few interesting options include a banana coffee rooibos, a lavender infused earl grey, and a coconut creme pu erh tea. And they feature an apothecary of medicinal teas to ease maladies like menopause, sore throats, tummy troubles, and insomnia.

While you are browsing, they have samples of tea for you to sip. As nothing goes with tea quite like a bit of honey, they also provide samples of their rare and local honeys. I was able to taste a very rare honey called Mountain Gamble Oak Honey. That particular type of honey can only be produced about every seven years from oak trees living in a high elevation (6000+ feet).

Even if you don't love tea, there will be something to entice you in this shop. Almost every inch of the store is covered in something quaint, cool, beautiful, or delicious. The rustic, yet modern shop was full of nifty decor, and they had an entire section dedicated to our Southwestern favorite, the cactus. With actual cacti plants, but also vases, plates, tea pots and more in the image of a cacti.

On top of being all around charming and vending awesome products, this tea shop also features this a really neat symbiotic living fountain. Unfortunately, the lovely aquaponic set up was not for sale, but for those feeling creative, it is great inspiration. The plants on the top level purify the water for the fish, while the fish waste provides nutrients for the plants.

And have no fear if you are no where near our lovely little Old Town Albuquerque. Old Barrel Tea Company has an online store! So you can get your knickknacks, honey, and tea fix here.