Tea, treats and tarot – oh my! Three of Cups, a teahouse that will transport you to your literary witchy dreams, is opening off Rundle Mall this weekend.
Frantically googling for a café or meeting place that’s open late afternoon after coffee culture closing times is a very Adelaide experience.
It’s one this CityMag reporter knows well and is hoping will be a problem of the past thanks to the good witches behind Three of Cups serving up hand-brewed teas, baked goods and stocking locally made giftware in the Myer Centre.
As we sat down for a chat with co-owners Vix Ferguson and Tasha Falco Lewis, CityMag was offered a tea from their range and opted for the Apple Pie flavour.
It didn’t take long for us to notice the brew was shimmering in the light.
“I’m a grown-up, and I put sparkles in your tea,” Vix says.
The sparkles are safe to consume and set the tone of what you can expect from the teahouse: pure, joyful magic.
The brainchild of Vix, Tasha and co-owner Jess Falco, Three of Cups is a queer-owned and operated business passionate about creating a space that’s accessible and fills a gap for local LGBTQIA+ and neurodiverse communities.
The permanent location has been a dream of theirs since they first began Trelawney’s travelling tea caravan in 2020, where Tasha paired her 20 years of baking experience with Vix’s brews and brought their magical wares to festivals throughout SA and Victoria.
Sybil the caravan will be still available to hire for events and will venture out to select festivals, but is otherwise parked for the meantime.
A housewarming gift from Blooming Kreativ
The trio noticed a lack of queer venues outside of pubs or clubs, and limited options for venues to sit, read and keep to yourself or have the option to chat and meet new people.
“I’m not a scene person, and if you don’t want the scene, but you still want to mingle, where do you go?” Vix says.
“We used to have especially queer places in Adelaide, but they all slowly dissipated.”
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We’ve all been there, trying to have a first date or mates catch-up at a bar and straining to hear the other person speak.
If yelling what you’ve been up to lately over an iconic but distracting Lady Gaga banger isn’t the vibe you’re after, enter Three of Cups.
Tasha and Vix have found this sentiment echoed by people within their communities who still want a safe space to socialise, but don’t want to be in loud, enclosed spaces with large crowds.
“Even if we take the queer aspect out of it, when you finish work and you’re going out for dinner, there’s nothing to sort of bridge that gap between the two where you just can just go to a cafe and sit down and read because there’s nothing open,” Tasha says.
A magical mural by Clover Opal Art
The day CityMag visited, the coven was hard at work, with a mural being painted and an enchanted tree under construction from recycled materials.
A giant table stood near the entrance, its legs sticking out at a height that would have been dangerous for a taller journalist.
The large table will sit in the middle of the spacious teahouse, ready for those who want to play board games, and for groups like queer gamers and the tarot group of South Australia to meet.
“Community is very much central to the kind of space we wanted to create here,” Vix says.
Vix and Tash find the alternative and occult communities welcoming and the overlap between these communities and LGBTQIA+ individuals come quite naturally.
“When you grow up queer, you are usually ‘othered’ in a way and so you sort of gravitate to other others,” Vix says.
“We all kind of gravitate together and then I think we introduce each other to different things, different belief systems.
“It’s a really interesting shift in society – what would have been considered this weird and scary or wrong community is actually probably one of the kindest and most embracing.”
Three of Cups is a Renew Adelaide space and is designed for you to come solo or with friends, to connect or unwind.
Another Renew spot, Page and Turner is just next door, and the two businesses plan to work together to encourage you to buy a book and enjoy it with a cuppa.
Three of Cups will have a range of seating, reading nooks, and even a Narnia-inspired wardrobe you can walk through to embrace your inner Mr Tumnus in a quiet space.
The menu will include Vix’s assorted brews and Tasha’s banana chai cake, Biscoff slice, Earl Grey and lavender cake, tiramisu, and other baked goods galore – including vegan and gluten-free alternatives.
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The third cup in their trio, Jess, will use the space to craft crochet wares available for sale, and the group invite anyone with a project to come and create in their teahouse.
“Sit here and have a cup of tea, have several cups of tea, have a bunch of cookies, this is a place of… indulgence,” Vix says.
“This is definitely not a cafe where you down your caffeine and you get out.”
Their stock will range from occult-inspired candles by Manifested This, pressed flower art from Blooming Kreativ, artwork, oils and candles from Haus of Ambrosia, and plenty more.
They’ll also have merchandise and resources from Clothing the Gaps, Minus18 and Shine SA.
They’ll have readings of tea leaves, tarot or runes available by trusted local readers, all of which have been vetted in advance so you can be sure they’re not just for the gimmick.
“We’ve been approached, and I’ve sort of gone, ‘look, I don’t know your craft and I haven’t had a reading from you and felt like you’ve been accurate so I’m not going to book you just to have someone here’,” Vix says.
If tarot readings and crystal charging aren’t your speed, don’t be deterred because Three of Cups is a place for all levels of witchiness.
“Witchcraft is so diverse, it meets you in different places, it depends on what works for you,” Tasha says.
“What I like about it is that there’s no rigid rules, you can be as witchy as you want,” Vix says.
“Do you want to go for the hard stuff? Or do you just want something that has a crow and a cat and a book on it? If that’s the vibe, I’m down with everywhere in between those points.”
At the heart of their witchcraft is faith in connection.
“I certainly believe in science… but like, maybe this amethyst will help you,” Tasha says.
“It probably won’t cure your cancer, let’s be real. But if it doesn’t, it’s still something with spirit that I’ve given you that feels nice. It’s nice to know that someone else is thinking of you in that way.”
When asked what they do as a witch, Vix’s answer is simple: “I make tea.”
“It’s not like what you see on the TV, I make tea and I hope that it makes you feel good and does good things for you.
“There’s something really cathartic about the blending of teas, but also putting your intention in it too. That goes into the witchy side of things – you’re adding certain plants that have their own metaphysical qualities, if you believe in that side of things, so there’s a mix of wellness and enjoyment.”
Three of Cups is in shop 16, Level 2 of the Myer Centre, with an accessible entrance directly in front of the escalators and lifts. The venue will be available to book for events, with Tasha also taking catering orders.