A small apothecary.

The practice was founded in Charlotte, North Carolina by Dr. Adam Smith, a naturopathic doctor whose focus is herbal medicine and dietary therapy. Adam still runs the practice today, sees clients one-on-one, and makes most of the formulas himself.

Almost everything in the shop is something Adam prepares by hand, in a small workspace, with a notebook open on the counter.

The work is slower than you'd think. The bitters formula on the shop page — the one people call after-meal drops — starts as gentian root dried for six weeks before any alcohol touches it. Then twenty-eight days in brandy. Then two weeks of rest. Total time from harvest to bottle: roughly four months.

Adam doesn't make a hundred different formulas. There's no need. A small apothecary should do a few things well. The tinctures section is a dozen formulas; the teas, two. The soaps are short by design — a body wash, a deodorant, a tooth powder, a laundry soap. That's most of what a household needs.

Where the plants come from.

About a third of what's on the shelf is grown by small organic farms across the southeast. Another third is wildcrafted — gentian from the French Alps, oregano from northern Greece, schisandra from northern China, sea moss from St. Lucia. The last third is bought from suppliers we've worked with for years, with certificates of analysis on every batch.

If we can't trace where a plant came from, it doesn't go on the shelf.

Consultations.

People come to Adam with the things their doctor didn't quite know what to do with — low-grade gut trouble that's been going on for years, a sleep problem that hasn't responded to medication, recurring infections in the colder months. Adam takes a long history. He looks at the whole person. He writes a formula.

Forty-five minutes. Twenty dollars, refunded against your first formula.

What this practice isn't.

Adam is a naturopathic doctor — not a medical doctor — and nothing on this site is a substitute for conventional medical care when that's what's needed. We work alongside your physician when it's the right call.

What we do is the same work herbalists have done for a long time: listen to the person, think about the plants, suggest a starting point, and follow up.