The first time I drank tea, my grandma placed a bag of Lipton green tea in water and nuked it in the microwave. She then mixed in what I can only describe now as a horrific amount of milk and honey. I politely sipped the strangely curdled and astringent brew a few times as we watched Top Chef before secreting away to the kitchen to rinse out my mug. Although that was not my cup of tea, the experience put me on a mission to tinker with tea tastings as I entered adulthood.

Let me start by saying that everyone has their own tea preferences, and how one chooses to drink tea should be for them alone to decide. I gravitate toward single-origin dark teas (or heicha) and pu’ers (from the Yunnan province of China) that are fermented, along with darker oolongs, as opposed to tisanes (herbal teas) or black teas that are blended or flavored. Friends who aren’t as keen on fermented teas have questioned my palate when I’ve fondly described a pu’er tasting like loamy hay. Both Chinese and Japanese green teas are rarer in my regular rotation, though there are many that I have loved. As for how to drink it, I’ve found the ideal new tea experience often involves sitting down with a small pot of something I haven’t tried before and meandering my way through it for as many steeps, at whatever steep times, are recommended. I often don’t want any frills or additives (like added flavors, or cream and sugar), despite my sweet tooth—I want to taste the tea as it was grown, dried, and prepared.

When I ask folks I know about tea in Albuquerque, they often mention places like the St. James Tearoom or the Ivy Tearoom, which concentrate more on a traditional British afternoon tea experience where teas are paired with savory and sweet bites. More recently, shops centered on boba teas or other mixed tea drinks, such as Starry Moon and Bing Tea, have entered that conversation. While all of these spaces offer their own take on tea, as I embarked on my tea tour of Albuquerque (Santa Fe and Taos to come), I decided to explore shops more exclusively focused on the sale and/or preparation of loose-leaf teas.

The Fragrant Leaf

The first stop on my tea tour was The Fragrant Leaf in Nob Hill, a small store that might be easy to miss when driving or biking down a crowded Silver Avenue. But for what this shop lacks in floor space, I was incredibly surprised by the variety: Over fifty small-batch teas are available for purchase in two-ounce increments, in addition to a selection of pots, cups, and storage containers. About half of the tea menu comprises green and oolong teas, with a mix of white, black, pu’er, and herbal teas making up the rest of the list. What I really liked was how welcoming this space was, and I suspect anyone new to tea would not feel overwhelmed walking into the store, based on both affordability and organization. Each type of tea includes a brief write-up with background information, and there are jars with each tea available to smell as you are browsing. The staff were incredibly helpful in talking through the teas I was interested in, and while the shop does not have a seating area, any of their teas are available prepared to go.

Based on the smell and description, I purchased a couple of ounces of the amber oolong and had some made to go, and I’m excited to know that there is a shop in my neighborhood where I can pick up a high-quality tea to brew at home and a hot (or iced) cup when I’m out on a walk.

📍3207 Silver SE, 505-595-5721

Moons Coffee & Tea

Living near the university, I am guilty of navigating Albuquerque in a way that rarely carries me outside my usual orbit, so I was thrilled to have an excuse to drive out to Juan Tabo solely to try Moons Coffee & Tea. As the name implies, Moons specializes in both coffee and tea, carrying over one hundred teas. The store is divided down the middle, with large glass jars of loose-leaf varieties lining the shelves on the right-hand wall. I was a bit wary walking in because coffee can carry such an intense smell, but it wasn’t as overpowering as I expected as I sniffed my way through teas. Although all the jars are clearly labeled, I did ask the staff if I could skim through the tea binder to get a better sense of the selection, and they were eager to chat to help me narrow down my choices. Many of Moons’ offerings are flavored or blended black teas. Stepping outside my comfort zone, I bought a bag of the highly recommended Crème Earl Grey, along with the Lapsang Souchong Butterfly—a Chinese black tea smoke-dried over pine, which has a distinctive smoky flavor profile—and a delicate, flowery Ti Kuan Yin Oolong.

Moons Coffee & Tea, like many of the other shops I explored, is geared more toward picking up tea to prepare at home, but they do brew tea to go.

📍1605 Juan Tabo NE, Ste F, 505-271-2633

House of Salem

Tucked away in the Poco a Poco Patio northeast of Old Town Plaza, House of Salem (also known as Salem’s Tea House) curates a selection centered on single-origin teas (though they do have tea blends available) in a space that feels immediately familiar and comfortable. Nestled in the front-left corner of the space, the teas are organized from lowest to highest caffeine content, and each has a corresponding jar for customers to survey and smell the leaves. The owners, Michael Garcia and Justina Alarcon, were both wonderful to chat with as I was browsing through teas and the multitude of teawares. In addition to a seasonally rotating menu with over a dozen teas made to go, most of their teas can be ordered in one-ounce, two-ounce, four-ounce, eight-ounce, or one-pound increments, with a bulk discount for larger quantities. 

Of all the stops on my Albuquerque tea tour, House of Salem caught me most off guard, perhaps because my visits to Old Town have tended to be on weekends with out-of-town guests when the plaza was bustling. Although I wish there was room for seating inside, because it is such a cozy shop, sitting in the otherwise empty patio on an unseasonably warm winter afternoon was the perfect way to spend an hour watching pigeons and listening to music while sipping their Da Hong Pao (Big Red Robe) oolong. The Sencha Kakagawa I brought home has also been a refreshingly light green tea to add to my rotation, and the Jasmine Pearls—a special occasion tea for me—has a delightful floral flavor.

📍328 San Felipe NW, Unit C, 505-585-1809

Old Barrel Tea Company (Old Town)

Perhaps because of its location adjacent to Old Town Plaza, Old Barrel Tea Company was the stop on my tea tour I’d heard the most about. They have a variety of tea accoutrements for sale, such as mugs and pots, but the tea takes center stage as you enter the shop, with displays of tins and jars stacked on barrels as you walk through the door. Old Barrel focuses predominantly on herbal and flavored or blended teas ranging from Bee Pollen Black to Vanilla Rooibos, but they do have a small selection of single-origin teas. I bought some raw (sheng) and ripe (shou) mini tea cakes to brew at home, along with a Sticky Rice Pu’er, one of my favorite tea blends. If you’re new to tea, their tea tins are an economical entry point (they also offer quart-sized bags or jars), or they have a small selection of tea blends available to purchase in sachets. 

Old Barrel always has four to-go teas available to sample at the front counter, which provides a great place to start your own exploration or decide what you might like to take with you on a walk around the plaza. Even better, these teas rotate monthly. I sampled a cup of the dark blue Butterfly Garden Oolong, a blend including butterfly pea flowers, whose rose-forward taste reminded me of Monk’s Blend teas I’ve had in the past.

In addition to Old Town, you can find Old Barrel Tea Company at their second Albuquerque location in Uptown, as well as in Ruidoso, Cloudcroft, and Mesilla. Beyond New Mexico, they also serve tea in Arizona and Colorado. 

📍2041 S Plaza NW, 505-842-5722 

New Mexico Tea Company

When I stepped into New Mexico Tea Company from their tiny parking lot on Mountain, I was surprised not only by how many people were packed inside but how many teas, teawares, and knickknacks were spread across the three-room retail space. The shelves of the first room are filled with ceramic and cast-iron pots, cups, infusers, gaiwans, and matcha bowls and whisks, while the main shelves of the second room are filled practically from floor to ceiling with tea canisters. This shop could be overwhelming for novice and seasoned tea drinkers alike; however, the staff were quick to offer guidance on navigating their more than 150 single-origin and house-blended teas, and sample tins allow you to see and smell each one. Although they do not serve tea in the shop, the one-ounce bags were so reasonably priced that I walked out with Prickly Pear Oolong, Sandia Spice, Black Licorice, Mugicha (roasted barley), and my personal favorite and staple at home, Iron Silk Pu’er, a blend of ripe pu’er with peppermint, clove, and licorice root. Tea can also be purchased in two-, four-, eight-, and sixteen-ounce sizes, with a discounted price for the larger weights.

📍1131 Mountain NW, #2, 505-962-2137

Lost Cultures Tea Bar

If I were orchestrating the perfect not-a-care-in-the-world day in Albuquerque, spending a few hours at Lost Cultures Tea Bar near sunset, with the afternoon light filtering through the windows, would be a high priority (in fact, I made a point to do this on Valentine’s Day). As much as I love their array of nonalcoholic cocktails, the offerings listed in their leatherbound tea library steal the show. Of all the stops on this tea tour, Lost Cultures is the only shop where one can sit down with a pot of tea to drink across multiple steepings, and although their selection isn’t quite as expansive as those specializing in loose-leaf tea sales, their teas feel intentionally curated to provide any tea drinker who enters with something that they will enjoy. The menu includes almost half a dozen varieties of each white, green, black, and oolong, all available to order in small or large pots, along with a dozen pu’ers I will be going back to try very soon. For my first tea-centric visit, I started with a small pot of the Hojicha Dark Roast, a caramelly, roasted green tea, before moving on to the 2018 Sun Fu, a post-fermented dark tea that was pleasantly forestlike in taste. After three hours, I had drunk four pots of tea and read half of a book without much awareness of the passing time, which speaks to the communal feeling of this unique space.

In addition to tea served by the pot, Lost Cultures does sell tea by the ounce for those who want to take home their favorites.

📍1761 Bellamah NW, Ste C, 505-582-2117