This story first appeared in the Midcoast Update, a newsletter published every Friday. Sign up here to receive stories about the midcoast delivered to your inbox each week, along with our other newsletters.
The Tender Nettle Herb Co., an herb shop and tea counter, is opening on Friday in downtown Belfast in the space formerly occupied by Daily Soup.
Owner Gabrielle Aydnwylde says she’s opening the shop to make herbs that support health more accessible. The store will sell herbs by the ounce and tinctures by the milliliter, so that people can buy smaller quantities of herbs they may be using for the first time.
“I want people to not be afraid to experiment with herbs in a way that is accessible to them,” she said.
Aydnwylde, an herbalist, will make custom blends of herbs and preparations for customers and sell brewed teas and a range of salts. Some of the herbs the store stocks have culinary uses, such as grains of paradise and chunks of turmeric root.
For now, Aydnwylde is purchasing herbs and tinctures but plans to begin preparing them in the shop’s commercial kitchen. She also plans to expand to body care products.
Aydnwylde has studied herbalism for the past four years. While she can share information about herbs with customers, Aydnwylde recommends that people with complex needs or who want to delve deeper into herbs visit a clinical herbalist.
Still, she hopes to be a resource to the community, especially since there are no state or federal certifications for herbalists and many people are left to educate themselves, or find dubious information online, particularly in the AI era, she said.
In an effort to support other local businesses, Aydnwylde will offer 10% off a beverage to any customer who brings in a receipt from another local business from that day. The discount is stackable, she said, up to 100%.
Aydnwylde and her husband moved to Maine from Massachusetts during the early months of the Covid-19 pandemic. Her husband’s family has lived in midcoast and downeast Maine for generations, she said, and his grandmother grew up in Belfast.
Aydnwylde had been imagining opening an herb shop when the Daily Soup location opened up after the business closed last fall.
“We went from doing napkin math to renting out the space in the course of two or three weeks,” she said.
After around five months of renovations, Aydnwylde is excited to welcome the public to the shop for a soft opening this weekend. Tender Nettle is located at 118 High Street in Belfast and open Wednesday through Sat 11 a.m.-7 p.m. and Sundays 11 a.m.-4 p.m.
“I love this community. I love this town,” she said. “And I’m really excited to be able to bring this to the region.”