The workshop under Konjuh: a week in Kladanj

The AlmaDerm workshop stands at the foot of Konjuh, in a small building with two tables and one copper still. Six people work in it. Everything else — recipes, buying, shipping, answers to customers — is done by Alma Čamdžić, who started the brand in 2013.

Day one: harvesting and the first step

The raw material is not ordered by phone. Conifer, immortelle and sage oils come from the forests around Kladanj, and that is the part of the job you never see on a label: days spent in the forest before there can be a product at all.

Days two and three: distillation

The steam is not rushed. Distillation takes as long as it takes — sometimes all night — and while the still runs, the room smells like the whole story of this brand. Oil cut short has a different character, and you can taste the difference.

Days four and five: a small batch

Oils, beeswax, honey and propolis are combined by hand, in quantities that fit on a single table. The formula is the same every season because the raw material is the same, but the quantity is not — which is why a product is sometimes simply out of stock, and we have not replaced it with anything.

The last day: packing by hand

Every jar is filled and closed by hand. The ISO and GMP certificates are on paper and that is accurate — but the hands knew that before the certificate was printed.

Naša Kuća visits the workshops that make what they sell. We tried the conifer balm, the calendula cream and the honey soap from this workshop ourselves.