I need to find an herb shop in S. Ohio. Help me out!

February 7, 2010 10:43 AM

Bulk herb shops in southern Ohio/northern Kentucky? (Kava kava, valerian, etc.)

I am looking for a shop or two that sells bulk herbs in the Greater Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky region. I have recently started a blogging endeavor to catalog the uses of various herbal medicines and their subjective and objective effects.

IN PARTICULAR, I need to find somewhere other than the internet that sells things like Kava kava root. I know a handful of vendors on the internet that I trust but I can't rely on ordering and waiting for a product.

I know this is kind of a long shot but if anybody has any ideas I'd love to hear them. I am willing to travel 1+ hours!

posted by deacon_blues to Health & Fitness (8 answers total)

Response by poster: Meant to add: I've gone the Whole Foods route numerous times and while this works somewhat, there are two problems: 1) price and 2) quality.

Especially with Kava, all varieties of capsules and extracts I've tried from stores like Whole Foods just don't cut it.
posted by deacon_blues at 10:46 AM on February 7, 2010

Have you tried Jungle Jim's yet?
posted by The Potate at 11:26 AM on February 7, 2010

there's an asian pacific island market near me here in CA that sells powdered Kava in buckets. He told me the stuff they put in capsules is ridiculous and that the only way to ingest it is as "glug," the drink you make from it, kneading it through cheesecloth in water (it's great btw).

you could give him a call and ask for a good source. I think the owner's name is Shiri Ram.
posted by Señor Pantalones at 11:29 AM on February 7, 2010

Response by poster: I have indeed tried Jungle Jim's with not too much luck. Thanks for the suggestion though.

And I completely forgot about little markets like you mentioned Senor. Great idea, I'm going to see what my area has to offer.
posted by deacon_blues at 11:42 AM on February 7, 2010

Jungle Jim's does have Kava tea, at least. I haven't seen bulk Kava there though.
posted by the dief at 2:17 PM on February 7, 2010

Best answer: If you ever made a road trip to Indy, The Good Earth (the real hippy kind of health food store, not like a GNC, etc.) sells bulk herbs and spices upstairs by the ounce and it tends to be pretty cheap. Their prices on name brand capsules aren't that great though. I order online to save money.
I did a search and found they've got an online store now but didn't see anything about the bulk herbs. You might give them a call to see if they'll ship. It should be fairly quick considering how close you are.


http://www.good-earth.com/our-store.html
posted by stray thoughts at 4:18 PM on February 7, 2010

Best answer: There's a herb shop in Mt. Healthy on Hamilton Ave. I've never been into it but you might want to check it out.

Also, in Silverton, on Montgomery Road, there is a shop called Whatever Works that specializes in alternative medicine. They sell some bulk herbs; I've bought lavender there.

Murray Brothers in Norwood (also on Montgomery Road) sells bulk culinary herbs and spices.

You may also wish to check out new age type stores.

Hope this helps.
posted by daneflute at 9:24 PM on February 7, 2010

Response by poster: Thank you all. Daneflute, I'm making some calls today but you and stray thoughts pretty much described what I was looking for.
posted by deacon_blues at 6:13 AM on February 8, 2010