O5 Tea runs a tea bar at 2208 West 4th Avenue, in Kitsilano, open every day of the week and until later on Fridays and Saturdays. The name explains itself on the shop's own page: the O stands for an obsession with origin, and the five for the elements of earth, water, wind, fire and void. The team travels to build ties with farmers and to bring tea from remote villages, and describes the bar as a space to host friends, share and experiment. The room can also be booked.
The product pages read like field notes. The 1875 Keemun names its garden manager, Zha Weiming, and its cultivar, Keemun Maofeng; the Assam comes from Kahibari, a few kilometres from the Bhutan border, where T. Bodosa has farmed organically since 2007. Sencha Soul is a steamed green from GuZhu Mountain in Zhejiang, made in the older Ming Dynasty style by Zhang Wen Hua. Taiwan arrives as a lightly roasted Shan Lin Xi from the Chen family and a Jinxuan GABA oolong from Ming Jian. Most leaves start at 40 g.
Past the loose leaf, the shelf runs deep into aged Xiaguan pu-erh, from tuo cha to a 2014 horseback basket, and wanders as far as Georgian black teas and an oak-ash fermented dark tea meant for Bhutanese butter tea. The teaware leans handmade: chasen by Tanimura Yasaburo, chawan by Robert Stickney, Hagi ware, and a line of titanium gaiwans, cups and kettles for brewing outdoors. Seasonal matcha is sold in store, and online orders ship across Canada and the United States.