Amanda Jokerst is on a mission to spread the word on herbs. Jokerst’s shop, Forest & Meadow Herb Shop and Clinic (3228 Ivanhoe) is part herbal apothecary, part wellness clinic, and the place to go for all things herbal. From dried herbs to tinctures, shrubs to teas, syrups to salves, the business specializes in items that both taste good and strive to make customers feel good. We recently caught up with Jokerst, who’s a certified clinical herbalist.
How did you first become interested in herbal medicine? I went to school for sociology, so I was in a very different field. I picked up a book that was about Western civilization, civilization as a whole, and what people were preparing to do in case there was a collapse of any social system, and one of the author’s friends was studying herbal medicine. I hadn’t heard of that before, there was something so captivating about that. I never took any science classes, I wasn’t particularly outdoorsy, and there was nothing that would have prepared me about [herbal medicine], but it hit me. The next day, I signed up for an online herb course, and I’ve been studying it ever since.
Find the best food in St. Louis
Subscribe to the St. Louis Dining In and Dining Out newsletters to stay up-to-date on the local restaurant and culinary scene.
How did the shop come into being? I started my clinical practice in 2017, and I noticed clients were looking for quality herbal medicine in St. Louis. That’s when we decided to launch the product side of our business. We went to our first market at Schlafly Bottleworks that December, and it went really well. I never had the intention of opening an herb store—my focus was on the clinical practice. I hadn’t really seen a great model for how an herb shop could operate in a truly holistic way… I wanted to have a space where people could get the deeper care they need.
Do you produce most of your own products? Pretty much everything you see in our shop that has our label on it, we’ve made in house. We make it in really small batches, so we can control the quality. So much of herbal medicine is the relationship with the plants, and I think there’s something really special about us making medicine in our community.
Are your products available anywhere else? Local Harvest Grocery, Union Studio, Health On Main, Procure shop by The Women’s Creative… Mac’s Local Eats and Ivy Café have drinks on their menus that feature our products, and they sell some of our products as well.
Do you have anything new coming out? We’re about to release a collaboration with Honeymoon Chocolates. They made an amazing dark chocolate using our Chaga Chai, so it’s absolutely perfect for this time of year. We are also going to be releasing a canned mocktail. We’re finishing it up right now.
