Sequim Spice & Tea
Location: 139 W. Washington St., Sequim
Phone: 683-9355
E-mail: marty@pacificnorthwestherbs.com
Hours: 10 a.m.-5:30 p.m. Monday-Saturday; 10 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Sunday
In his heart, Marty Martin is an herbalist, an enthusiast of plants with leaves, seeds or flowers used for flavoring, food and medicine.
“I’m a clinical herbalist by trade, being self-taught for five years, two years of formal training and two years of practical application in our shop,” Martin said. “It’s always been a burning passion to open an herb shop.”
He and his wife Char have owned Sequim Spice & Tea since purchasing the business from Nicole Livengood on April 1, 2013, a “portentous date” the bewhiskered Martin winked, adding, “It’s been going great ever since then.”
Starting out in a cubbyhole of a store, the Martins soon realized they needed more space, so they moved to the larger former Pacific Mist building. Then this summer, the Martins took another leap of faith and expanded the business into the former Colors of Sequim store on July 8.
Plans include adding a tea lounge in the front where customers can personally select, have brewed and relax with their tea, beginning education instruction on herbs in a back room and launching an e-commerce site. The store has free WiFi and also plans a small charging area for mobile devices.
“What’s really driven our growth is our need to meet our customers’ needs,” Martin said.
Squatty clear jars fill floor-to-ceiling racks, made from recycled barn wood, and brim with culinary herbs, spices and ingredients plus teas and medicinal herbs, all organized by type alphabetically and available by the ounce.
“We have over 100 culinary herbs, spices and ingredients, as well as 60-plus seasoning blends and over 60 gourmet sugars, salts and peppers,” Martin said. “We stock 150-plus loose leaf and herbal teas and more than 120 medicinal herbs, along with teapots, tea sets, spice racks and other accoutrements.”
Medicinal herbs
Martin explained that before physicians had to have degrees, there were people in communities who understood how and chose to use natural plants as medicines for ailments.
“There’s a healing energy in the herbs and that’s what attracted me to the physio-medicalist group of herbalists,” Martin said. “I can consult with clients and cooperatively evaluate and recommend a wellness plan. If someone comes to me with a diagnosis, I can help in conjunction with whatever (traditional medical) treatment they’re receiving and I can help support and augment the healing process.”
Medicinal herbs stocked by the store range from nearly A-Z — alfalfa leaf to yellowdock root.
Herbal teas not only have great flavors, but also natural substances that act on the body. Martin said his biggest seller is Lights Out, “an all-organic gentle sleep aid,” followed in popularity by his Tummy Tea that “helps support a healthy digestive system; it’s useful in cases of intestinal inflammation and related issues,” Martin said.
“I’d say the majority of our culinary products are all organic and about a third of our teas are organic with the majority of those being fair trade,” Martin explained. “Of course, all of our medicinal herbs are organic or sustainably wildcrafted.”
Spice it up
Over history, spices traditionally have come from far off foreign lands and so it is with Martin’s products, but he made a point of saying that he sources as much as possible from local or regional distributors to reduce the store’s carbon footprint.
“Spices sell well just because they’re such a highly consumable product in the preparation of food and we get a cross section of all ages. They buy it, they eat it and they need more.”
Savory seasoning blends include those for pork, blackened seafood, Italian, Hispanic, Mid-Eastern and Greek dishes plus broth bases for soups and stews. How do you like your garlic? Minced, powdered or granulated and completely salt-free? Sequim Spice & Tea has them all. Like your smoothies green and extra nutritional? Add in powdered beets, broccoli, spinach or wheat grass for a power punch.
Tea time
It’s clear to see that Martin has an encyclopedic knowledge of spices, herbs and teas. In a quick lesson he explained that Camellia sinensis is a species of evergreen shrub or small tree native to Asia whose leaves and leaf buds are used to produce tea. The five types of tea are white, green, black, oolong and pu’erh and their differences are based on how intensely they’re processed.
These can be blended with parts of other plants, including flowers such as hibiscus or lavender, for a kaleidoscope of flavors. Culinary lavender lovers have among seven blends of lavender tea to choose from and Sequim Spice and Tea’s employees will blend custom teas while customers wait.
“The business is thriving and we are so blessed,” Martin said. “We’ve been welcomed by the business community and supported buy the local community. I’d say that three-fourths of our sales are from locals. Seven days a week we’re drawing customers to the downtown core … with high quality products at very fair prices.”
