Made in Asheville: Local Makers and Handmade Goods

Eda Rhyne Distilling Company makes craft spirits in Asheville inspired by traditional Appalachian folk medicine, using locally sourced and wild-foraged botanicals, rare heirloom grains and native plants. It's best known for its bitter herbal spirits, and its bottles are sold in ABC stores across North Carolina and in bars and liquor stores around the country. The Asheville tasting room on Fairview Road pours classic cocktails made with its own spirits, and the second spot, Eda's Hide-a-Way in Weaverville, adds natural wine and cold beer.

Two Trees Distilling is a craft distillery and tasting room at 17 Continuum Drive in Fletcher, about 15 minutes south of Asheville off Interstate 26. It makes small-batch whiskey, bourbon, flavored whiskeys, vodka and moonshine with Appalachian grains and mountain water, and it's the distillery behind Tim Smith Spirits from the Discovery Channel show Moonshiners. Free tastings run daily, with six flavors to sample, plus craft cocktail specials and bottle sales seven days a week. It's open Monday through Thursday from 10 am to 7 pm, Friday and Saturday from 10 am to 8 pm, and Sunday from noon to 5 pm. Asheville Media Group listeners voted it Best Distillery in 2023 and 2024.

Oak and Grist Distilling Company is a small-batch, grain-to-glass artisan distillery in Black Mountain, just east of Asheville. Using locally grown and malted barley, they craft whiskey and gin that capture the flavors of Western North Carolina, and their covered patio overlooking the Blue Ridge Mountains is one of the best spots for sipping award-winning craft spirits near Asheville.

The Southern Highland Craft Guild is a nonprofit organization showcasing the handcraft traditions of the Southern Appalachians, with a permanent craft shop and gallery on Tunnel Road in East Asheville. Founded in 1930, the Guild represents hundreds of juried craftspeople working in pottery, fiber, glass, wood, jewelry and more, making it one of the oldest and most respected folk art and craft destinations in Asheville NC.

Hickory Nut Gap is a working family farm out on Sugar Hollow Road in Fairview, east of Asheville, and the same family has been farming it since 1916. They raise 100% grassfed beef plus pasture-raised pork and chicken, and the farm store and butchery is where you stock up on all of it, along with local goods and prepared food. Fall is when the farm really comes alive. Weekends bring hay rides and pony rides by donation, with the money going to Project HNG. Wednesday through Sunday the kids, and plenty of grown-ups, hit the culvert slides, the trike track, the sound silo and the creek with its little rope swing. Local apples, farm-pressed cider and pumpkins fill up the store in September. The calendar stays full out here. Monthly Big Barn Socials, barn dance shows with live music and a two-step instructor, stargazing nights, birding walks and Sunday morning qi gong all happen on the farm, so grab tickets early for the bigger nights.

Devil's Foot is the Asheville crew making non-alcoholic ginger beer, craft sodas and sparkling lemonade with real organic ginger, fruit from local farms and no corn syrup. The Mule is their taproom, set right inside the production facility on Sweeten Creek Road just outside Biltmore Village. Full bar, but the draft sodas are the point. Cocktails and mocktails run on Devil's Foot sodas, backed by a deep wall of North Carolina spirits, plus local beer, NA beer and wine. A food truck or pop-up is parked out front most days. The calendar stays stacked for a taproom. Live music, Wednesday night jazz, Latin dance socials, burlesque shows, vintage markets and NFL Sundays on the big screen all land here. Leashed dogs are cool inside.

FIREWALKER Hot Sauce Company is Franco Donohue's Asheville hot sauce brand, and it started as a first batch cooked up in a small apartment kitchen here in town. It's still made in small batches with locally grown produce, all vegan and gluten free with no added sugar. The lineup runs from mild to seriously hot: Green Glow, the Original (citrus and garlic with a habanero kick), Classy Cayenne, Mango Blaze, SmokeJumper Chipotle, and Running with the Reaper, built on the Carolina Reaper. There's no storefront. Grab a bottle at the French Broad Food Co-op, Ingles, Hickory Nut Gap Farm or Mother Ocean Seafood Market, or order bottles, cases and $25 gift boxes on their website.

Mora Jewelry is a designer jewelry boutique at 9 West Walnut Street, Suite 2A, in downtown Asheville, with bold, modern pieces from jewelry designers. The case holds earrings, necklaces, rings, bracelets and brooches in gold, silver and gemstones, including engagement rings and wedding bands, with a section of pieces under $200. It's a go-to for gifts and special-occasion jewelry downtown.

Ignite Jewelry Studios is a jewelry and metalsmithing studio and boutique gallery, now back after the floods at 84 West Walnut Street in downtown Asheville. Weekly workshops let beginners make a piece of jewelry with an instructor, with no experience needed, and skills sessions and guest instructor classes go deeper into metalsmithing. The gallery sells handcrafted jewelry by local artisan jewelers, and resident jewelers rent studio access to work on their own pieces.

WAXON Batik & Dye Studio is a women-owned textile and fiber arts studio at 726 Haywood Road in West Asheville. It teaches classes and workshops in batik, ice dye, shibori and classic tie-dye, and offers custom dyeing like dyed shirts for businesses, batiked logos and banners and overdyeing old clothes. It also sells streaming online dye courses and at-home ice-dyeing kits, and its bigger workshop space fits larger classes.

The North Carolina Glass Center is a nonprofit, public-access glass studio and gallery with two locations: its original studio at 140C Roberts Street in the River Arts District, with a gallery, hot shop and flame shop, and a newer center at 112 East State Street in Black Mountain. It rents low-cost shared studio space to emerging and established glass artists, runs affordable glassblowing and flameworking classes, and shows work by Western North Carolina glass artists. Black Mountain is open every day but Tuesday, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and until 6 p.m. on Friday and Saturday.

Asheville Goods is a gift box and mercantile shop at 7 Brevard Road in West Asheville, packing curated gift boxes with products made in Western North Carolina. Boxes include Beer City, Blue Ridge Breakfast, Pisgah View Picnic, Hot for Asheville and Land of the Sky Grill, starting around $34, and the shop also sells local coasters, glassware and cutting boards. Gifts can ship or be picked up, and the shop is open Tuesday through Thursday from 10:30 to 2:30 and by appointment.

Chemist Spirits is a women-owned craft distillery at 151 Coxe Avenue in Asheville's South Slope, founded by Debbie Word, who started out making spirits on a small family still with her daughter Danielle, an actual chemist. It makes gin, whiskey, vodka and seasonal spirits, including its American Gin, a Barrel Rested Gin it calls North Carolina's first true sipping gin, a Navy Strength Gin and Conservatory Rose Gin made with Biltmore. The tasting room and mercantile shop is open Monday through Saturday from 9 am to 9 pm and Sunday from noon to 9 pm, and distillery tours are offered. Next door, Antidote is its coffee bar and cocktail lounge, open daily from 8 am.

AppalaChai! is a local chai brewer in Black Mountain, making chai concentrate since 2014 from USDA organic ingredients and local suppliers whenever possible. You'll find it on the menu at coffee shops and cafes around Western North Carolina and the Upstate of South Carolina, and the bottled concentrate is sold at local stores like the French Broad Food Co-op. Mix it with milk or oat milk for a chai latte at home, hot or iced. AppalaChai also offers home delivery around Asheville and wholesale for cafes that want to carry it.

French Broad Chocolate Lounge is downtown Asheville’s premier dessert destination, known for artisan chocolates, decadent cakes, rich brownies, cookies, housemade ice cream, and signature drinking chocolates. Set on Pack Square, this locally-owned, bean-to-bar shop creates every chocolate treat from scratch using ethically sourced cacao in their own Asheville factory. The Lounge’s elegant space offers plenty of vegan and gluten-free options, specialty espresso drinks, and wine pairings, all served with a sweet Asheville vibe.

Moonlight Makers is a funny gift shop and screen print studio on Rankin Avenue in downtown Asheville. Every design is drawn in house and printed in the downtown studio, then sold on t-shirts, hoodies, kids' tees and onesies, tote bags, socks, mugs, kitchen towels, candles, greeting cards and stickers. The shop started as a holiday pop-up on Rankin Avenue in 2016. It's open every day from 9 AM to 5 PM.

Shining Rock Goods is a leather shop on Wall Street in downtown Asheville, making handmade goods from full grain leather in its Asheville studio. Paul Taylor started the business in 1965 in New York's East Village. The shop sells belts, sandals, shoes, bags, messenger bags and dog collars, offers custom fitting on belts, bags and shoes, and carries vintage belt buckles and sterling silver jewelry. Belts come with a 10-year guarantee. It's open every day from 10 AM to 5 PM.

The Village Potters Clay Center is a nonprofit clay studio, gallery and pottery supply shop at 44 Westgate Parkway in West Asheville. After Hurricane Helene destroyed its River Arts District building in 2024, it reopened at Westgate in April 2026. The gallery sells ceramics made on site by six resident potters and studio tenants, and the supply shop stocks Laguna, Standard and KYMudworks clays, AMACO glazes and Brent wheels. Eight-week pottery classes and workshops serve beginners and experienced makers. It's open daily from 10 AM to 5 PM.

Grovewood Gallery is a fine craft gallery on Grovewood Road, next to the Omni Grove Park Inn in North Asheville. Since 1992 it has shown work by more than 350 artists and makers from across the country. Two floors hold handmade jewelry, pottery, glass, paintings and sculpture, and the second floor has a showroom of studio furniture by local and regional makers. Outside is a sculpture garden. The gallery hosts rotating exhibits and live craft demonstrations, and it's open every day from 10 AM to 5 PM.

Spicewalla is a spice shop in the Grove Arcade in downtown Asheville, from James Beard Award-winning chef Meherwan Irani. The Asheville store is the brand's flagship, stocked with spices sourced in small batches, then roasted, ground and packed by hand. Along with single spices you'll find signature blends, rubs, olive oil, hot sauce and honey. The shop is open every day from 10:30 AM to 6 PM.

Rite of Passage is a slow fashion clothing label with a studio at 240 Clingman Avenue Extension in the River Arts District. Designer Giovanni Daina-Palermo and artist Libby O'Bryan design and sew the clothes in Asheville. Since 2021 the studio has worked out of a 1940s brick warehouse on Factory Hill, alongside its sewing partner Sew Co. The shop is open Monday through Saturday from 11 AM to 4 PM.

Dynamite Roasting Co. is a coffee roaster with a cafe and retail shop on Highway 70 in Black Mountain. Andy Gibbon, a former brewer and barista, started it in 2008, and co-owner Patrick Shaw is a third-generation coffee professional. The beans are roasted at the company's solar-powered roastery in Swannanoa, and the coffee bar serves espresso drinks and sells fresh roasted bags, special blends and fundraiser coffees. It's open every day from 7 AM to 6 PM.

Noble Cider is Asheville's first cidery, with its taproom and production space on New Leicester Highway in West Asheville. They press their own juice from local apples and keep the ciders dry, with no artificial or "natural" flavors. Flagships include Standard Bearer, Village Tart with cherry, Golden Arrow with ginger and Spice Merchant with chai, plus mead on tap.

Marble & Steel Craft Chocolates is a craft chocolate shop and cafe at 1833 Hendersonville Rd in South Asheville, across from Publix. Molly and John Cook ran it online for years before opening this first storefront in May 2026, and John was the executive pastry chef at The Omni Grove Park Inn. The case is full of small-batch, airbrushed bonbons with fruity and nutty pralines, caramel and ganache, plus molded chocolate bars, bark and cocoa bombs, all made without preservatives. There are also fresh pastries, sandwiches and coffee from local roasters.

Asheville Bee Charmer is a honey shop with two free tasting bars in downtown Asheville, at 32 Broadway Street and 38 Battery Park Avenue. Owners Jillian and Kim are beekeepers who opened in 2014, and they stock 40 to 50 honey varietals from North Carolina and around the world. Sourwood honey from Southern Appalachian forests is the best seller, and the shelves also carry tupelo, orange blossom, fireweed and infused honeys like Smokin' Hot. Beyond the jars, there's honey soap, lotion, salves and balms, candles, books, bee jewelry and gift sets. A tasting takes 10 to 15 minutes, and a staffer at the bar walks you through it.

East Fork Pottery is Asheville’s acclaimed ceramics studio and retail shop, known for contemporary, regionally crafted stoneware and dinnerware. Located at 15 W Walnut Street downtown, the flagship store features their full collection of handmade plates, mugs, serving pieces, and vases, all produced by skilled artisans at East Fork’s Asheville factory. The shop also stocks craft drinkware, cookware, and tabletop goods from admired regional makers, making it a go-to for lasting gifts, stylish table settings, and local artistry.

Poppy Hand-Crafted Popcorn is a woman-owned gourmet popcorn maker based in Asheville, popping small batches of all-natural popcorn in dozens of flavors since 2014. Best sellers include the Asheville Mix of White Cheddar and Salted Caramel, Pimento Cheese, Mexican Street Corn and Birthday Confetti, and it's sold at about 90 Ingles Markets stores.

Montford Deli is a small-batch, family-run kitchen at 1461 Merrimon Avenue in North Asheville, serving comfort food done right. After more than three years serving Montford, it brought its kitchen to North Asheville with help from the Nick's Grill family. The menu has sandwiches like the patty melt, Reuben and Philly cheesesteak, daily specials and catering.

Flour is a bakery cafe at 40 Wall Street in downtown Asheville, making made-from-scratch breakfast biscuits, homemade focaccia sandwiches and fresh pastries daily, with a full coffee program. It moved there in summer 2026 after two years in a kiosk at S&W Market.

The Chocolate Fetish is a local chocolate shop at 36 Haywood Street in downtown Asheville, making handmade artisan chocolates and truffles. Favorites include the Ecstasy truffles, sea salt caramels and the African Queen, a Belgian-style truffle with a crispy hazelnut wafer and caramel ganache.