About The Brand

Herbs and botanicals have been smoked, steeped and smudged for hundreds of years. These blends are crafted to get your mind right without rambling, made with organic ingredients with effects that can center, intoxicate and balance other herbal remedies. Their food-grade herbs are carefully sourced from quality farms for safe smoking, steeping, and burning. Like components of a perfume or a bedtime tea, the properties in the herbs blend together for a full-bodied experience, creating a composition that can be restorative to internal systems, calm or awaken the mind

Barbari Cofounder Meryl took a moment to chat with Etain about their brand and the CBD Tea Infusions carried at Etain’s NYC Flagship Medical Cannabis Dispensary.

What’s the meaning behind the Barbari brand name?

My cofounder, Valarie, is the creator of the brand name and product line. We were looking to identify a unique name that felt both masculine and feminine, while also holding some visual symmetry. We ultimately locked in “Barbari” because it checked all of the above boxes, and also because it was referential to the Barberry Bush, which is commonly known as Oregon Grape (our home state flower). In folklore, it represents protection, wealth.

Do you have a favorite product in the Barbari line?

I love the Self-Centered tea. It’s loaded with goodness like Elderberry and Schisandra berry which my body has been craving in abundance since lockdown, and even more so now that we’re in this reemergence. Both help keep my immune system firing at all cylinders. It’s floral, fruity, and herbal which checks all my flavor boxes.

Since starting the brand, what’s been the biggest lesson you’ve learned as a women owned business?

Finding the right partners is essential. Not just cofounders, but the first group of people you work with in the beginning can become your strongest foundation. If you’re getting red flags early on in the working relationship, take that as a signal of caution of how it will be to work that person long-term. Additionally, being an entrepreneur is not a walk in the park – more like the longest, steepest hike you’ve ever taken. Find your sources of resilience, those emotional boosts that give you energy to sustain your mission and work. That can be a hobby, friends, family, even your team. Whatever brings you balance, be sure to keep that in your daily routine. Trust me, you’ll need it.

How do you think Barbari Tea Infusions compliment Etain products?

Our teas are all about taking a beat to revel in the daily subtleties. Smoking weed while sipping on tea is a dream combination to me. Just add a quiet Sunday afternoon, and I’m in my happy place. There’s something ceremonial and calming about both actions, and thanks to the adaptogens and botanicals in our tea, it brings a balancing and softening effect to my high, while also not inhibiting my wandering imagination.

How do you Take A Moment?

I’ve begun practicing meditation on a regular basis, and it has anchored me to a sense of calm in a really meaningful way. What I’ve learned is that there is peace within me. I’ve felt it before in a dream I had, and know I have the ability to access it again. Since realizing this, I’m able to take a moment at any moment. I simply close my eyes, focus on my breath, and navigate towards that feeling of inner peace I know is there.

Shop Barbari CBD Tea Infusions at the Etain NYC medical cannabis dispensary near you in Midtown Manhattan