Frequantly Asked Questions
Are all of your herbs organic?
Yes and no.
I source certified organic herbs wherever possible, and many of the remaining herbs I use are grown using organic practices but aren't formally certified. Organic certification can be expensive and inaccessible to small growers, so a lack of certification doesn't automatically mean a lack of responsible growing practices.
I source through small, Australian-based, family-owned wholesalers wherever possible. When working with botanicals considered culturally or spiritually sacred, provenance matters enormously to me, and I make every effort to source them responsibly and from appropriate traditional or Indigenous growers.
Ultimately, I care about what I'm putting into your tea: how it was grown, where it came from and whether I feel comfortable using it.
Do your teas actually work?
Legally? I can't tell you that they do.
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I formulate my blends using herbs with histories of traditional use across herbalism, folk medicine and different cultures, alongside available scientific research. I research the absolute hell out of what I use, but herbal remedies affect everybody differently and my teas are not intended to diagnose, treat or cure medical conditions.
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Anecdotally?
You could always ask the customers who keep coming back for Go the Fuck to Sleep.
Can you make me a custom tea blend?
Absolutely.
Everything is blended by me in ridiculously small batches, which gives me a lot of flexibility. If there's an ingredient you can't have, don't like (hello, lavender people), or would simply rather avoid, contact me and I may be able to alter an existing blend or create something specifically for you.
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I also create custom blends for wholesale clients, cafés, collaborations and other businesses.
Can I drink your teas while taking medication, pregnant or managing a health condition?
This is one question I will never answer with a blanket yes.
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Herbs can interact with medications and may not be appropriate during pregnancy, breastfeeding or with certain medical conditions. If any of these apply to you, please speak with your GP, pharmacist or qualified healthcare professional before beginning an herbal remedy.
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I'm always happy to tell you exactly what's in a blend so you can make that conversation easier, but I won't pretend to be your doctor. I am a Witch!
Why do your teas have ridiculous names?
Because tea doesn't need to be so bloody pretentious.
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There's plenty of beautiful tea in the world covered in wellness buzzwords and very serious promises, and that's perfectly fine. It's just not me.
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I want you to see a bag and immediately think, Fuck, I need that. Or better yet, think of your best friend who hasn't slept properly in six months and start laughing.
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The names are an inside joke you are in on. They're there to make you feel seen, make herbal tea approachable and remind us that sometimes the situation is already chaos; we might as well have a laugh while dealing with it.
Why does my tea look or taste slightly different from my last bag?
Because plants stubbornly refuse to come out of a factory.
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I work with natural ingredients sourced in different seasons and blend everything by hand in very small batches. I follow the same formulations, but natural variation in colour, cut, aroma and flavour is inevitable.
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That said, if you open a bag and something tastes genuinely wrong, please contact me. I'll look into it and, where appropriate, replace it. Natural variation is normal; a bad bag isn't something I expect you to simply put up with.
How quickly will my order be sent?
I aim to have orders packed and on their way within five business days, usually via Australia Post.
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Wayward Witch is a one-woman business, and I also live with disability and chronic illness. Occasionally my body decides that whatever I had planned for the day was merely a suggestion, particularly during busy periods.
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If a week has passed and you haven't received a shipping notification, please message me. Something may have gone astray, and I'm always happy to check your order and sort it out.
What is Wayward Witch doing to be environmentally and ethically responsible?
I work with plants, so caring about the environment they're coming from isn't exactly optional.
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I avoid unnecessary plastic wherever practical, use recyclable or recycled packing materials where possible, use uncoated paper business cards, and choose recyclable materials for my Blind Date books and other products wherever I can.
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Tea packaging is one area where I've deliberately made a compromise. I use Mylar-style barrier bags because tea may live in someone's cupboard for a very long time, and protecting it from moisture, air and degradation matters. Many apparently eco-friendly kraft tea bags still contain plastic linings, while some compostable alternatives don't provide the long-term protection dried herbs need.
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I'd rather be transparent about that compromise than slap an eco-friendly label on something and call it a day.
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I also consider sourcing part of environmental responsibility. I avoid herbs treated with pesticides where possible, work with small Australian-based wholesalers, and take provenance particularly seriously when sourcing sacred or culturally significant botanicals.
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I'm not going to pretend I'm perfectly sustainable. I'm a tiny business doing the best I realistically can, and I'll keep improving where I can.
Is Wayward Witch really just one person?
Yep.
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Hi. It's me.
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I formulate the blends. I order the herbs. I blend the tea. I fill the bags. I make and print the labels. I label the bags. I manage the website. I pack your orders. I create content despite deeply resenting the existence of social media. I pack the car, unload the car, set up the market and then stand behind the stall talking to you.
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Wayward Witch is genuinely a one-woman small business.
There are occasional exceptions. Talented friends sometimes make things for me that I physically can't make myself, and Harmony in Bloom was created by my seven-year-old daughter, who would probably like significantly more credit than I'm currently giving her.
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But when you buy from Wayward Witch, there isn't a warehouse or production team hiding somewhere behind the curtain.
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It's me.
Do you use AI in your business?
Yes. And I'd rather be completely transparent about how.
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I primarily use AI as an accessibility and administrative tool. I live with a disability that affects my ability to type, use a mouse, sit at a computer for long periods, organise information and work through significant brain fog. AI helps bridge some of those gaps.
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I use it for things such as dictation, organising information, spreadsheets, stock and product management, research assistance, and helping me turn my dictated ramblings into something another human can actually read.
I also sometimes use generative AI when creating backgrounds for my own product photography. The products themselves are real and photographed by me; I remove the original background and use AI to create an art-directed setting when physically producing and photographing an elaborate set isn't accessible to me.
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I don't simply press a button and accept whatever comes out. When I use generative tools, I art-direct the result until it represents what I was actually trying to create.
Do you sell AI-generated art, books or products?
Fuck No!
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I will never knowingly sell AI-generated books, artwork or creative products as someone's original creative work.
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The artwork I commission is created by independent artists, and I support human artists wherever I'm physically and financially able to do so.
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AI may help me run Wayward Witch. It isn't what Wayward Witch is selling you.
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And if I ever knowingly stock an AI-generated novel, please feel free to check whether I've been replaced by an unusually convincing doppelgänger. Because I would burn that shit in the streets!
Why do you use AI at all?
Because accessibility sometimes looks like technology.
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I have the knowledge and creative background. I also have a Bachelor of Fine Art. What I don't always have is a body that lets me sit at a computer, hold a mouse, type for hours, design a set, photograph it, write a social media post, build a spreadsheet and then do everything else required to operate a business.
I don't have an accountant, design department, social media manager, admin assistant or production team.
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I have chronic pain, brain fog, two hands that occasionally lodge formal complaints against typing, and a business that still needs to run.
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AI doesn't replace my creativity, knowledge or decisions. It helps remove some of the physical barriers between what is in my head and what I'm actually able to produce.
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Without accessibility tools, Wayward Witch couldn't exist in its current form.
What actually is a Chaos Witch?
Imagine two people need to put a nail into a wall.
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One is a carpenter. They have a hammer, so naturally they use the hammer.
I don't have a hammer.
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I do, however, have a suspiciously solid dog-grooming brush.
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We both get the nail into the wall.
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That's probably the easiest way I can explain Chaos Witchcraft.
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My practice draws from different traditions, philosophies, practices and systems. I'm less concerned with following one prescribed method than understanding what I'm working with, respecting where it comes from and finding the method that gets the job done.
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The path might look different.
The nail is still in the fucking wall.
Do I have to be a witch to shop here?
Absolutely fucking not.
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You don't need to be a witch. You don't need to practise anything. You don't need to know what moon phase we're in. You don't need to own a crystal, have a familiar or know which end of a tarot deck is up.
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You can be deeply spiritual, aggressively sceptical, somewhere in between, or simply someone who saw Go the Fuck to Sleep and thought, Yeah. Fair.
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You'll mostly find me at witchy markets because that's where I've found my community, but don't let that intimidate you. Come in, have a look, ask questions and have a laugh with us.
We're really not that scary.
Well.
Most of us aren't.
Where can I find you in person?
Markets and events are one of the best ways to experience Wayward Witch in person.
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I regularly attend witchy markets, festivals and other events across Victoria, particularly throughout regional Victoria. My schedule changes throughout the year, so Instagram @waywardwitchsteahouse is the best place to find my current appearances.
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Come say hello. I promise I'm considerably less intimidating than some of the tea names.
Do you wholesale?
Absolutely, and there's no minimum order.
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If you're another market vendor wanting a handful of bags for a collaboration, I can do that. If you're a retailer looking for something unusual for your shelves, I can do that too. If you're a café wanting larger quantities or a completely custom house blend, let's talk.
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Wholesale is available across my standard retail and sample sizes, with larger café quantities available by weight.
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I also create custom and collaborative blends for businesses.
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Contact me for my current wholesale catalogue and we'll work out what suits your business.
Do you offer refunds or returns?
Because tea and herbs are consumable products, I generally can't accept returns or change-of-mind refunds once they've left my care.
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If you've just purchased something from me at a market, it's still sealed and in resellable condition, and you've decided you'd rather swap it for another blend, come back and talk to me. Where practical, I'm happy to exchange it.
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If something is genuinely wrong with your order or product, that's different. Please contact me so I can investigate and make it right.
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