IYE: Tea Tasting With Vancouver’s Yelptern!

O5 Tea has a very different feel from the run-​of-​the-​mill David’s Teas. Whether it’s the barrels or the knick knacks scattered around the room or the inviting long table, it is anything but generic. I found the atmosphere immediately relaxing.
You can tell the staff here are passionate about what they do. From the special brewing apparatus they use to the cute teacups, they answered all our tea questions with aplomb. Each had their own background with tea, whether it was from specialized training, tastings overseas or experimenting with brewing in the back. I really liked hearing about their worldly tea experiences and how they came to discover their personal favourites.
We started off with their White Moonlight Kombucha. It was cool, carbonated and somewhat sweet like champagne. Most surpisingly, they had it on tap — something I’ve never seen before when it comes to tea. The Kombucha was by far my favorite of the evening, though I usually prefer my teas hot!
Next was O5’s Chiran Sencha. I got the impression that this was a bit healthier, though the taste was not quite to my liking. It was a little bitter, with notes similar to spinach. After three brewings, it became more bitter with each.
Lastly, we sampled the Taiwanese black/​red Wild Bush tea. I didn’t mind the flavour of this as much as the Sencha, though I’m usually partial to green teas.
They also offered us some dried apricots and mixed nuts, which was very apropos and didn’t distract in the least from the task at hand.
If there was one thing I disliked, it was the seating. I found the stools to be awkward and quite uncomfortable. I’m guessing that’s normal after an hour and a half of sitting there — I’d imagine most guests are not going to stay near as long.
Although I didn’t look too much into pricing, from a few of the numbers thrown out during the evening, the tea here is rather expensive. My basis of comparison is David’s Tea, and I feel that most of the time when I do go home with one of their samplings, it’s rather disappointing. Yes, it smells divine in the packaging, but once brewed, it is not nearly as good. With O5 tea, I get the feeling that you will certainly get what you pay for. If you’re unsure what you’re looking for, I think the staff here would be much better prepared to steer you in the right direction.

O5 Tea
Was it fun? Yes. Did we learn Yes again.
It’s a beautiful Tea bar well thought out. the staff are very knowledgable and their passion for the leaf shows in the attention detail. .
The KambuCha was light citrusy and danced on my tongue.
I can see this would be amazing with a pinch of vodka. Or to be experimental with some Campari
The sencha was a boost of detox to the gray matter. It was better, and better and more full bodied after each pour.
The black tea had a very soothing warmness similar to camomile,
that relaxed everyone.
A big thank you to Ayla and the new Plus One Alexandra for putting on the event
Welcome aboard Alexandra!

Usually, I’m hurrying to snag the last morsel of food left on the table but at O5, I felt no anxiety whatsoever.
O5 has a really clean layout. It has a simple and elegant atmosphere that definitely put me at ease. The tasting carried along very nicely. My favourite tea was the carbonated Kombucha. Wow, it was so much better than any fancily-​bottled Whole Foods version.
The dried nuts and fruit complimented the teas nicely, and didn’t intrude on tasting the flavour of the tea.
O5 Tea bar has a very unique concept going on for them. In terms of food trends, tea tasting could be the next «soft serve ice cream» fad.

O5 Tea is for the serious tea lover. Recently I attended a Unilocal tea tasting event at O5 Tea. A big thank you to Alex G for setting up this event, it was an enjoyable evening.
The shop itself, at first blush looks like a small bar, with its long counter, bar stools, wine barrel tables and even tea on tap. Unlike other places, where tea is served while you await the main course that drew you to the shop, at 05 Tea, the tea itself is the reason to attend. With a range of teas from black/​red, green, white and my new favourite since attending this event, kombucha. There is something for everyone here.
For our taste testing evening, there were staff on hand to tell us about the history of each tea, where it is grown, how best to prepare it and other tea trivia. It was a very informative session. The experience reminded me a bit of some of the traditional tea houses I’ve attended in Taiwan, where you sit and hear stories about the tea while enjoying it with the shopkeeper. For this tasting, I would have liked to have tried a few more teas but there is only so much one can drink in a few hours.
Looking at the regular menu at 05 Tea, it was on the pricey side however I’d say the reason is the quality. This shop takes pride in getting its products direct from farmers, mainly in Asia as opposed to from factories.
The experience inspired me to dust off my tea pot at home and start steeping.

Talk about tasty tea education!
O5 tea mainly serves special Asian teas. Which I thought I knew something about but I realized I have no clue. Our 3 very knowledgable host served up some yummy kombucha, sencha, and black tea. They talked about history of teas, where it came from, healthy benefits of the teas and so much more.
O5 is such a cool tea room, they have a big long communal table, minimal décor, and with a very zen feel.
They sale the teas they serve. And also offers different events that include tea infused dinners and teas with alcohol (Fun).
I learned a lot at this IYE, Im more of a coffee lover but defiantly come back and try out some new teas.
Thanks to Ayla & Alex and to O5 tea.

A slick long table presentation of mostly Asian teas. The staff themselves are tea afficionados and it shows. Teas were introduced and lovingly poured, with comparisons made between first and second washes for each tea. The setting is a long narrow table and long bench to match. And apparently they have an impressive calendar of events coming up. Try the sencha, which above all else outshined most equivalent grocery store teas. Thanks Alex G for organizing this, what a great way to spend a Wednesday evening.

If this event taught me anything it’s that I know nothing about tea (or at least, I didn’t).
We started off with the kombucha. It was light, fizzy and refreshing. Reminded me of a nice summer pop. I thought it was pretty cool that O5 Tea has kombucha on tap!
Next, we tried a variety of teas. If I was being quizzed on the names of what we tried, I would fail. I almost felt like I should have been taking notes in order to remember what I was trying. It would have been nice if we had been given a list of the different teas.
The staff were all very friendly and extremely informative. These people really know tea! I learned that Westerners give tea their colour (such as black tea or green tea) based on the colour of the leaf, but in China the colour is given based on what colour it becomes in water. Which is why some tea that we call «black» tea they would refer to as «red» tea.
There were a couple instances where I wasn’t sure what was going on. Although I figured it out (ex. the staff poured hot water into each cup and then poured the hot water out before pouring the tea into it), I thought it would have been nice for the staff to let us in on what they were doing.
Also good to know: O5 Tea has a bunch of cool events coming up. One of which includes vodka in tea. Need I say more?
Thanks for putting this together Alex G and Ayla! It was awesome to experience something new!