How an archaeologist turned tea witch became the most natural collaboration we've ever said yes to

When Elaine opens her studio door, the kettle is already boiled. Not in the manner you rush to put one on before a guest arrives, but in the way that it's always ready. As though it lives at a low simmer, because she moves through the day in pours, not hours.

This is what makes Elaine's world so difficult to look away from. She hasn't merely created a brand that sells some notion of ritual. Her life embodies ritual. Each surface holds evidence of it. The tea that's constantly steeping. The books stacked high upon the shelves. The lingering scent of lemongrass. The way she serves you a cup without asking, because she knows what pairs perfectly with every conversation.

Luna Tea Co. doesn't feel like a business. It feels akin to stepping inside something sacred. Not an act performed, but something lived, crafted over decades. A practice she returned to, again and again, until it became second nature.

And within minutes, you understand why a notebook company from Far North Queensland flew all the way to Newcastle for the chance to share a cuppa and, perhaps, craft something together.

For now, Elaine settles into her chair, her hands warming around the mug as she speaks, recounting a life dedicated to tea that began in a most unlikely place.

 

Before Luna Tea Co., Elaine spent almost twenty years as an archaeologist. Not in theory, but in practice. In the dirt, in the movement, in a career that rarely stayed in one place for long. 

The Greek islands, Mexico, Vanuatu, Bulgaria; an existence built on excavation and exhilarating travel. But between digs, she would return to a tiny, slightly haunted flat in Sydney that she'd begun to think of as sanctuary.

Elaine lights up when she reflects on those quiet moments amid the demands of her career. "Coming home for the occasional weekend to bring that pokey little apartment to life was... grounding. I'd just hole up and embrace my inner witch, concocting potions". 

She jokes, but the ritual was real. She made bread first, then jam, then ferments - and eventually, tea. 

“Being able to perfect a blend, then pack it into bags I could share on work sites feels like bringing a piece of that sanctuary with me on the road,” Elaine says. “I can create my own little ritual from the dingiest of roadside motels. Buried in a book and a cup to match.”

She smiles, a little amused.

“Just… unofficial kind of fairy godmother of bloody tea and breads.”

I ask her why, out of everything, tea is the thing that stays.

“I think growing up Chinese, we just have tons of teas,” Elaine says. “All kinds. Not just the nice ones either, like… the terrible drinks too. The really herbal ones.”

She laughs softly.

“But there’s nothing like it for nostalgia."

“I’ve had people email me about one of the blends, The Gauntlet, and they’ve said, ‘I don’t know if this was intentional, but it tasted exactly like the drinks my Asian aunties used to make. Those really specific herbal ones.’”

She shakes her head, smiling.

“And I’m like, that’s exactly it.”

“I’ve got a couple that are really close to childhood flavours, and that’s one of them. It’s like the classic tea.”

“And because we’re kind of removed from it now, it’s so amazing having that taste from your childhood… you don’t even realise how big a part of you it was until you have it again.”

“Yeah,” I say, “like it brings you back to those memories.”

“Yeah, it really does. And now I give that to my mum and she absolutely loves it.” She pauses.

I let that sit for a moment before asking, “And does that sense of memory still carry through into your blends now?”

“These days, most of it’s inspired by fiction,” she says. “Like, I’ll read something really inspiring and I just… I generally pair my reading with tea.” She pauses, thinking. “So my aim is to kind of have something for every vibe. Whether it’s a book genre, or just a feeling that it evokes, or something that feels nostalgic or transformative.”

“It’s all kind of… culturally transformative,” she adds. “So yeah, I don’t think it’s a very traditional process.”

She lets out a small laugh.

“I think that’s my whole aim, really. I’ve always wanted a creative outlet. I’ve always wanted to consume more creative content, but never really been a maker.”

Then, almost to herself— “But I think I realised I’ve accidentally started doing that… by making tea.”

I look down at the cup in my own hands, a bright blue, chilled blend Elaine calls Blue Moon, and notice she's right. I feel a sudden urge to check what time my flight leaves tomorrow to see if I'll make it back in time to curl up with my son and rewatch The Force Awakens. I hadn't imagined a cup of tea could do that.

Tea became the creative outlet she hadn't found elsewhere. Part culture, part storytelling. And over time, it shifted her entire world out of the field and into the apothecary.

Like many of us, when the world slowed down in 2020 Elaine caught a glimpse of a life that could too.

That's when Luna, the namesake of her brand, arrived: an older, settled cat with firm boundaries and a quiet disapproval of Elaine's absences. When Elaine tried to return to the field, Luna's habit of sitting on her bag and refusing to move made leaving harder than ever.

An injury compounded the pull to stay, and Elaine found herself re-evaluating everything - it wasn't a sudden choice, but a moment when staying felt more logical than returning. She envisioned a slower, more purposeful life.

Luna Tea Co. was born when she finally embraced what had been true for years: that the intentional practices of pleasure - reading, tea, keeping notebooks, making space for stillness - weren't the margins of her life. They were the point.

Which is when she crossed paths with Lana and our notebook company. 

It started, as most good things do, in the DMs.

Elaine had been using Friend notebooks to arrange her life and in particular, to develop her blends. Scribbling tasting notes, tweaking ratios, logging the recipes that would become her signature collection.

Everytime Elaine tagged Friend Notebooks in her stories, showing all the witchy, bookish,  delights she had dreamt up, Lana would fall down a rabbit hole of mutual adoration. Eventually the messages turned from banter into something more specific: what if we actually made something together?

For Elaine, journaling was already an essential part of her own ritual, and so combining her tea with a notebook rooted in intention felt like the most natural extension. When I asked what she envisioned people doing with the collaborative set, she paused for a moment.

“I think it would be a dream for me for someone to kind of… feel content. Or like it’s really comforting. You know, it’s a comforting ritual for me. And I hope people don’t just treat it as, like, a replacement for their schedule, but actually have a bit of a sensory experience with it.”

“Just anything that they need at that moment,” I responded.

“Yeah, absolutely,” she nodded. “I think the aim is to evoke feelings. Whether that’s transporting someone somewhere else, or being part of whatever they’re already doing. Reading, an activity, just part of their day.”

What emerged is Made For Ritual - a limited edition collection that pairs Elaine's Autumnal Equinox blend with a brand new Friend notebook called Weekly Rituals. A notebook designed not to help you keep up with the demands of the week ahead, but to balance a week that meets you where you're at. Intentional. Reflective.

"Why Autumnal Equinox?" I ask.

Elaine shakes her head and gives me a little smirk. "Oh, there was no question. It had to be Equinox. It's a tea I developed to feel like magical fae bonfire rituals - all warmth and smoke and something a little wild. But equinox is also a time for balance, for rebirth, for reflection." She grins. "I can't think of anything that fits this collaboration better than that."

Each Made For Ritual set also includes a gold zodiac pendant that laces onto your notebook folio; a small, personal detail that felt right for two brands built on the idea that ritual should feel like yours.

It was there, in her calming studio space, that I understood what this collaboration really was. Not some carefully constructed promotion, but something that had been unfolding long before it was ever named. Something both Elaine and Lana had been unknowingly building towards from different directions - a shared belief that the best ideas live in the moments you reserve for yourself. 

Made For Ritual is available now as an extremely limited edition of just 150 sets.

We recommend you pop the kettle on first.