About Lhasa Karnak

A bit of history:

Lhasa Karnak first opened its doors on Earth Day, 1970, initially sharing a small space with Shambhala Books on Telegraph Ave. in Berkeley. A few years later we moved across the street to a larger location. 2004 brought new excitement as we moved back to our birthplace. Shambhala Books closed its doors and we occupied the space at 2482 Telegraph Ave. Sadly, in November of 2015, a fire in one of the apartment units above our store and the attendant damage has necessitated major renovations to the entire building.  We have relocated to a wonderful new site at 2506 San Pablo Avenue, just south of Dwight Way.  Our Shattuck location opened in 1981 and moved to its current location at 1942 Shattuck Ave. in 2014.

What we do:

Here at Lhasa Karnak we pride ourselves on offering the largest selection and the highest quality herbs, essential oils, and other natural products to be found anywhere. We specialize in Western medicinal herbs and culinary spices, but we have a nice collection of traditional Chinese and Ayurvedic herbs as well.

Our products:

Having been in this business since 1970, we know the industry inside and out and our sources are of the utmost quality. All of our herbs are guaranteed to be not sprayed with pesticides - most are certified organic, many are organically-grown, and several are ethically wildcrafted. Our essential oils are pure steam distilled, our base oils all cold-pressed, and our absolutes certified solvent-free.

Our name:

Our most frequent question - what does your name mean and how do you pronounce it? First of all, it is pronounced "Lah-suh Car-nack." The name refers to the cities of Lhasa, in Tibet, and Karnak, in Egypt. Both cities were important in the history of herbal medicine. Karnak is the site of the world's first botanical garden, and Lhasa is the source of much of the East's medicinal plant knowledge.