LOVE AT FIRST SIP: HOW IT ALL BEGAN!

Old Barrel Tea Company was founded in 2015 in the small mountain town of Ruidoso, New Mexico. Today we have six locations between New Mexico and Colorado:
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Ruidoso
2402 Sudderth Drive, Ruidoso, NM
Old Town Albuquerque
2041 South Plaza NW, Albuquerque, NM
Cloudcroft
505 Burro St, Suite 101, Cloudcroft, NM
Old Mesilla
2319 Calle De Santiago, Mesilla, NM
Durango
713 Main Ave, Durango, CO
Golden
1224 Washington Ave, Suite 118, Golden, CO

We gravitate towards small communities surrounded by other mom and pop businesses like ours.   In each OBTC location we aim to capture the unique local vibe and taste of the communities we're in.

​​​Our tea company is a family passion project.  The four founding owners are Dana, Bailey, Paola, and Nenada, but the team has since expanded to include Morgan, of the Mesilla location, and Heather, of the Golden location.  Dana, the matriarch of our company, is a three time cancer survivor. For us, sharing tea is about sharing wellness and advocating for a preventative lifestyle. Along with advocating for a wellness oriented lifestyle, nourishing a positive company culture is another one of our top priorities! Much like your significant other or your bed, you spend a lot of time with your job, so you should really love it!  The OBTC environment is intended to be a happy and healthy place where people are encouraged to live a wellness inspired lifestyle.  Our team is made up of tea enthusiasts who are passionate and knowledgeable about our products and all of the benefits they provide.

Old Barrel Tea Company is made up of people who are entirely obsessed with loose leaf tea! We drink tea and tisanes for breakfast, lunch, dinner and all the time in between! We drink tea, not only because we enjoy the taste, but because of all of the health benefits tea has to offer!  When sampling tea at OBTC, you’ll notice there is an emphasis on WHY you should drink tea. For us, tea is for sharing, for keeping us focused during our work day, for fueling a work out, for promoting restful sleep, and, overall, to help us feel well. We believe wellness and pleasure should go hand in hand, and that has shaped our tea company concept significantly. This is the reason why we obsess over creating new blends that appeal to our pallets as well as our wellness needs and this is why we incorporate many other wellness products into our tea shops. 

Raw Unfiltered Honey is a great example of a product that appeals to both our passions for flavor and for wellness! We like honey just the way the bees made it,  and we carry a unique variety ranging from a dark, molasses-like Buckwheat honey, to a light, floral, and creamy Cat’s Claw/Mesquite honey.  

​We get a lot of questions about local honey in our stores.  In all of our stores we offer local honey, but not for the reasons you would expect! We buy local honey because we like to support local beekeepers. Regarding allergies, we recommend using bee pollen or any raw and unfiltered honey as it will boost the immune system and help protect you from seasonal allergies (regardless of where the honey is from).

We think honey is pretty magical! It is of course our preferred sweetener for tea, and cooking but we also use it medicinally and for skin care!  Honey and tea are our first resort for common cold & flu symptoms, sleeplessness, aches and pains, and other minor ailments.  We even use honey topically for minor wound care and as face wash as it is great for skin. Raw unfiltered honey is antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, and has prebiotic qualities that are great for the digestive system!  Raw honey boosts the metabolism and can provide energy before a hike, yet, it is also a great tool for combating insomnia.

We find it fascinating how the bees make such a variety of honey that is unique in color, texture and flavor profile, but are also amazed that honey has no expiration date! Incorporating raw unfiltered honey into our wellness oriented lifestyle is effortless because honey is just so easy to love!

As mentioned above, we think wellness should be a pleasure! Our team loves to cook and we love to eat, so herbs and spices naturally fit with our tea shop vision.  We carry spices from our home state: Red and Green Chile Powders and a New Mexico All Purpose Seasoning. We carry Dana’s All Purpose Seasoning, which Dana has been making for the family for decades.  We even carry a Serbian Spice Seasoning to bring a bit of flavor from Nenada’s childhood in Serbia.

Check out our recipe for: Red Chile and Pink Himalayan Sea Salt Brownies
Soon to come: New Mexico All-Purpose Seasoning Chicken Caesar Salad and Serbian Blend Chicken! 

Check out our favorite Gourmet Herbs and Spices! 🌱