Meet Emma Watson - naturopath, tea blender and founder of Love Tea, a beloved Australian brand devoted to the ritual and wellbeing of organic herbal teas. Raised amongst natural remedies and guided by a lifelong connection to plant-based healing, Emma’s journey began with a deep curiosity for the power of herbs and a desire to make wellness feel both accessible and meaningful.
As Love Tea celebrates 20 years, Emma continues to honour the traditions of herbal medicine while creating blends that support modern, everyday rituals. In our Daily Rituals series, we caught up with Emma to explore her approach to winter wellness, the comforting rhythms she leans into during the cooler months, and the small, mindful tea rituals that help her feel grounded, nourished and connected.
Hi Emma, we’re so excited to talk to you about your brand and winter wellness. For those who may not know you, can you introduce yourself and share a little about who you are, your journey, and what inspired you to start Love Tea?
It's a pleasure. My name is Emma Watson and I am a naturopath and the founder of Love Tea. I was raised by somewhat alternative parents. From a young age, I was surrounded by herbs and natural remedies, and I naturally developed a deep love for the natural world of healing. I knew pretty early on, that I wanted to study naturopathy and help people by using natural medicine.
At 21 years old, I began studying Naturopathy and in my second year, I fell in love with blending herbs and wanted to share their therapeutic benefits. I began blending chai teas, wellness teas, and herbal teas. I met my now husband Damien Amos soon after and he helped me juggle completing my 5 year naturopathy degree and help grow Love Tea.
We grew the business together, staring at local farmers markets and events. I remember door-knocking and cold-calling hundreds of stores each week, working from a tiny warehouse. The demand for certified organic wellness tea grew and slowly, the business began to take off. We expanded our range, moved to a larger warehouse, and grew our team.
This year, Love Tea celebrates 20 years. Today, we supply stores across Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong, and Japan, as well as hotels, resorts, and Virgin Airlines. In 2024, we opened our first retail store on Pakington Street in Geelong West. Love Tea is now made up of a wonderful team of 23 dedicated staff, handcrafting organic tea locally in Australia. Tea has a long history across many cultures as both a wellness practice and a daily ritual.
As a naturopath and founder of Love Tea, what first drew you to the craft of tea blending, and what do you find most fascinating about the traditions and ingredients behind great tea?
Tea has always felt like a beautiful bridge between tradition, wellness, and everyday ritual. As a naturopath, I was drawn to formulating tea blends, through a desire to connect people with herbs in a way that felt both accessible and meaningful. Herbal medicine can sometimes feel complex or out of reach, and I wanted to gently remove that barrier, creating blends that support wellbeing while fitting seamlessly into daily life.
My connection to natural medicine began early. As a child, my mum would often take me to naturopaths, and I was continually in awe of the impact natural remedies could have on my health. We grew up somewhat outside of mainstream medicine, and that early exposure sparked a deep curiosity and respect for herbal wisdom. Natural medicine felt like home to me.
What continues to fascinate me is the rich history of herbal medicine across cultures, where plants have long been a first point of care, passed down through generations. There’s something incredibly powerful in that shared knowledge.
I think the beauty of tea is steeped in the many layers of benefits, from nurturing health, inviting moments of ritual and connection to oneself and one another, or simply providing the space for quiet pause and reflection.
As the pace of life slows in winter, what does wellness look like for you day-to-day? What small rituals, moments, or practices help you feel nourished, grounded, and supported through the colder months, both physically and mentally?
For me, winter is a season for slowing down and embracing a gentler rhythm. I enjoy more nourishing, slow-cooked meals, rich with warming spices, and turn to teas like ginger, turmeric, and chai to support digestion and circulation. The cooler months invite more quiet rituals, early nights, time with a good book, long walks in the crisp air and indoor yoga classes. My focus shifts more within, to nourishment, grounding rituals.
Tea is such a comforting and nourishing part of your brand — which blends do you reach for during winter, and how do you like to enjoy them as part of your personal rituals or mindful moments?
One of my favourite parts of winter is the warming ritual of tea. As a naturopath, I am mindful of what my body needs through different seasons, knowing I need to support healthy circulation, digestive function, and general vitality through the winter months. I love our Caffeine free chai and Honey spice chai, (think aromatic scent, sweet honey and warming spices.)
I love our Ginger tea or our French earl grey in the morning, perhaps our Turmeric tea in the afternoon and our Sleep tea as an evening ritual. I guess tea for me is not just a beverage, it's a mindful pause, a reminder to look after my health and a moment of calm in the day.
With Mother’s Day approaching, how do you like to slow down, connect, and celebrate loved ones, and how can tea, rituals, or mindful moments play a part in creating meaningful experiences together?
I am often reminded of the many wonderful women in my life. I see many of these women as people I look up to, who support me and who have played such an important part in my journey. For me, connection is at the heart of any meaningful celebration, and tea often offers a wholesome, simple way to bring people together.
Tea becomes a gentle ritual in these moments, offering warmth, pause, and a shared sense of care. Whether it’s brewing a comforting chai for a loved one, enjoying quiet conversation, or winding down together with a Sleep Tea, these mindful moments create a shared experience that is both special and nourishing.
My name is… Emma Watson
The first thing I do when I wake up is… Turn on the kettle and brew tea.
My morning skincare routine is… Depending on how much time I have, my routine might look like a gentle cleanse, followed by a deeply nourishing moisturiser and a minimal and light application of my fave organic make up. I usually have more time for a deeper more nourishing cleansing routine in the evening.
My first drink of the day is…Lemon water closely followed by English Breakfast tea.
How do you like to enjoy tea throughout your day — is there a ritual that helps you slow down?
Depending on how much time I have, I love to brew a loose leaf tea and have it in a pot on my desk, to sip through the morning. I love everything about this ritual, the aesthetic of having a glass tea pot on the desk, slowly steeping my tea, the herbs unfurling gently at the bottom of the pot and the colour slowly deepening.
Are there any teas you love recommending for seasonal wellness, immunity, or skin health?
Absolutely. I recommend our Skin glow tea and our Detox tea through Spring, Summer, and Autumn as we say goodbye to winter and step into warmer weather. I recommend our more warming and invigorating blends such as our range of chai teas, our Turmeric teas and ginger teas as well as Immunity tea through winter. I also recommend our traditional (caffeinated blends) for the first half of the day and the caffeine free blends more for the afternoon. This ensures sleep isn’t disrupted from afternoon caffeine consumption. I think when we tune into our body, to what it really needs at a specific time, we align with blends most appropriate to what we really need. An example might be utilising our Adaptogen tea, Calming tea and Sleep tea through periods of high stress, and our Vitality tea, Matcha tea or our Licorice love blends through periods of depletion, exhaustion and fatigue.
My go-to moment of mindfulness looks like… Light incense, brew a Calming tea, sit in silence, shut my eyes, focus on my breath. Visualising white light surrounding me and then sharing this light out into the world. A brief yoga flow (under 1 minute,) guided by how my body feels and wants to move. 8.My favourite way to move my body is…yoga, gentle stretching, walking. 9.A small joy I’ve been savouring lately…meditation before sleep as part of my evening wind down ritual. 10.
Is there a Love Tea ritual you think everyone should try at home, especially in winter?
Absolutely. Winter is the perfect time to elevate an existing bed time evening ritual, or create one if you haven't yet. I call it the wind down ritual, as sleep quality is deeply affected by what happens before we go to sleep.
Dim lighting, minimal or no screens in the room, keep a good book on the bedside table. Light a candle, or incense, brew a Sleep tea and enjoy it slowly. This is where we set our nervous system up for rest and relaxation and begin to let go of the day. I would bring in meditation here, very basic gratitude practice and a focus on the breath. Once you are ready to rest, you might like to read, which won't stimulate the nervous system the way a device will. I often keep a Sleep tea beside my bed in case I wake through the night, a simple way to help relax the body and ease back into sleep.
What’s one small way people can make tea-drinking a mindful, nourishing habit in their day-to-day life?
When we brew loose leaf tea, we gift ourselves a moment of pause, moving through the tea preparation at a slower, gentle pace as the process can’t be rushed. We step into the present and we connect with herbs, tea and botanicals and we take time create something that nourishes us.
This ritual could look like a mid morning slow brew (perhaps instead of a coffee,) a gentle pause in the afternoon, or an evening wind down ritual with Sleep tea before bed.
My favourite Love Tea blend for winter, and what makes it special?
My favourite winter blend is our Immunity tea. It’s based on echinacea which has traditionally been used to support immune function, as well as ginger, licorice root and nettle leaf. I also love our Turmeric tea, which just feels so warming and invigorating.
My favourite way to relax is… Brewing a pot of tea, and taking the time to enjoy it, meditation, yoga, walking.
Your favourite calming scent… I really love lavender. I use it on my kids pillows before sleep, I burn it in my oil burner and I love fresh lavender flowers beside the bed.
A book, podcast or playlist I’ve been loving lately… I really loved ‘The mountain is you’ by Brianna Wiest, and I am loving the podcast ‘Know thyself.’
After a long day, I switch off by… Having a bath (or a shower if I dont have time,) I might do a meditation, play calm music, light incense and a candel, go to bed early, finish the day with Sleep tea and enjoy a good book.
