Sitting down with Pedro Villalon has a very different meaning, Pedro is known as the Tea Hunter, he is a passionate individual who spends time in small farms around Asia, creating relationships with tea farmers and bringing their product back here for us to experience. As a result, these teas are rare and supplied only in small batches.

I visited Pedro a couple of weeks ago, he has been a friend of mine ever he since arrived to Vancouver from his home country of Mexico, via Asia where he learned the craft of fine tea. I sat at the stunning wooden bar at O5 tea bar which is nestled in the heart of Kitsilano. Pedro ground up some fresh Matcha leaves and made me a delicious Matcha tea to sip while we talked about the rare teas that were hand-picked by Pedro and the tea farmers in small farms in China, Taiwan, Korea, the Himalayas and elsewhere.

We talked about the tea experience and O5 Tea which welcomes people to visit their tea bar and sip the best tea on the planet. O stands from their obsession with Origin. They travel the world learning about the soil on which our tea grows and the people who care for it. Because healthier, better earth yields the teas that they want to share.

Pedro made me some more tea, and told me how 5 represents nature’s elements: Earth, Water, Fire, Wind and Void. In harmony, these elements express the best qualities hat each terroir gives to tea.

You can visit O5 Tea at 2208 West 4^th Avenue in Kitsilano.

By: Richard Wolak