Tea time and wellness: Inside the herbal experience at Charlotte’s Five Goddess Farm
Nestled on a cozy corner in Elizabeth, Five Goddess Farm’s Apothecary + Tea Room is a sanctuary curated by owner Ashley Masters. Five Goddess Farm, which takes its name from Masters’ four daughters and herself, also offers services such as massages, reiki, intuitive readings and yoga sessions.
While Five Goddess Farm has been around for over a decade, the tea room — which first opened in June 2022 — is the manifestation of Masters’ idea to offer an escape for Charlotteans outside of the all-too-familiar bustling coffee shop space.
“I love the local coffee shops that we have in Charlotte. I think we’re very blessed to have some amazing ones, but they’re very busy and they’re not very quiet,” Masters said.
“I wanted to create an oasis where people could come and relax where it wasn’t crazy loud and busy, where they could book their own time so they weren’t being affected by other people’s noise or other people’s movements,” Masters said.
More than just a tea room
Inside Five Goddess Farm’s tea room, Masters’ hosts workshops, herbal consultations and tea sessions for both individuals and groups.
“I do have a bunch of women who will come in just for their tennis group or just to hang out with each other, which is really lovely,” Masters said.
The tea room also acts as a “transition room” for post-massage clients and yogis.
“It would just be almost like a cocoon for them. And I wanted a place to really allow people to come and rest and relax and feel safe enough to open up during the herbal consultations and get curious about herbs,” Masters said.
For first-timers, Masters encourages that you have an open mind while not shying away from asking questions.
“I feel like there’s such an opportunity for people to take back their own power and their own health. And herbs are a beautiful way to allow people to do that,” Masters said.
Part plant medicine session, part therapy session
Herbal consultations at Five Goddess Farm blend plant medicine with therapy, as clients can fill out an online intake form to tailor the experience. Using a deck of cards, herbal consultations often function like a “tarot reading but for herbs.” Herbal consultations can be booked via Five Goddess Farm’s website for $150 per hour.
“What I found is that it ends up being part plant medicine session, part therapy session because a lot of the things that people go through are very emotionally charged, right?”
Masters’ overarching goal is to “help people feel amazing in their bodies, to offer a safe space for people to let go of the things that they’re holding that don’t serve them and then create this ease in their spirits, in their hearts and their bodies,” Masters said.
“The herbs are supplemental, and they’re very helpful, but it is really cool how it’s this cohesive, all encompassing session. Not just, ‘OK, let’s talk about herbs. Here’s your tea, have a great day.’ It becomes very, very intimate and very supportive,” Masters said.
What is an herbal consultation experience?
During my herbal consultation with Masters, we began the process with an intake form covering medications, supplements, activity level, diet and emotional health.
Masters, then pulled from her herbal card deck by Maia Toll, which was used to guide discussions on my mood, sleep patterns and recurring headaches – which we believe to be potentially hormonal. The cards pulled were titled: “Crack Open” (rose card), “Spirit to Matter” (trillium card) and “Pay Attention” (nettle card).
Masters suggested I get the Glow Tea, designed to support female hormones — which may counteract my headache symptoms — and the Rest + Renew Tea, meant to help with relaxation and comfort before a nap or bedtime.
What can you expect from the tea?
The teas at Five Goddess Farm are meticulously sourced from Frontier Co-Op and Starwest Botanicals. The Rest + Renew Tea Masters recommended is a blend of oatstraw, mugwort and passion flower. And while this tea does include sedative properties, Masters’ assures that it’s “not to the point that it’s going to make you fall asleep immediately.”
“It’s just something to sort of take the edge off. I drink it at night before I go to bed. It’s just a really nice way to calm the nervous system down and prepare for rest. It’s important to unplug,” Masters said.
More of Five Goddess Farms’ tea options include:
Aphrodite’s Love Tea
This tea meant for lovers, as it “will have you and your lover wrapped up,” also works for your cardiovascular health.
Ingredients: hibiscus, damiana, rose, hawthorn berries, calendula and passion flower.
Cleansing Tea
Meant to aid in the cleanse of liver and kidneys, this tea is a gentle and anti-inflammatory blend of herbs.
Ingredients: dandelion leaf, milk thistle seed, ginger licorice root, rose hips and tulsi.
Pregnant Goddess Tea
Nourishing both pregnant women and babies, this tea includes a blend of ingredients like iron, calcium, magnesium and vitamin C.
Ingredients: nettle, red raspberry, leaf, oat straw, tops, alfalfa, lemon balm, rose hips and rose buds.
While Masters said she has a healthy respect for Western medicine, she loves Eastern medicine’s use of herbs, which “gives people permission to explore and really find things that suit their own bodies because everyone is so different,” Masters said.
Five Goddess Farm
Location: 1419 E 7th St, Charlotte, NC 28204
Cuisine: Herbal tea
Instagram: @Fivegoddessfarm
