SnoTea Caffè

My first time here. I’m a huge fan of shaved snow so I wanted to try this place out.
I had shaved snow taro with mango jelly and lychee and it hit definitely the spot. Also had a taro smoothie with it. That was good as well.
I give this place 3 star. I thought it was a little overpriced – especially being around a college area.

On the pricier side. ~$ 5.50 for a large tea and it it only comes in one size.
I’ve gotten the milk tea twice– barley and rose milk. It was always watered-​down tasting and not satisfying.
I also got the wonton ramen once, which was reasonably decent.
I haven’t tried their desserts, but hopefully those will be more delicious than their teas.

Love the teas and snow here. The milk teas have just the right amount of sweetness and boba. The milk teas are not the best I’ve ever had, but are still probably my go-​to in Providence.
One thing to be aware of though, is the $ 5 min needed to use credit cards.
Update: The Peppermint Milk Tea is truly awful. I got it once and it was like drinking detergent. I will keep the four stars because I’ve had pretty good experiences with everything else on the menu.
The Rose and Taro milk teas are probably the best teas on the menu.

It’s with a heavy heart that I update my positive review of SnoTea. It seems like the service and quality have really gone downhill in the last year.
Since my last review they have:
–Stopped offering brick toast
–Shortened their hours – no longer open until 1am (that seemed unsustainable)
–Raised their prices
–Hired rude employees (headphones in while working) – maybe this is why they’re always hiring!
Last time I was here they wouldn’t let me order a small hot milk tea, saying «there’s only one size» even though there were two sizes right there on the menu. The taro flavor was barely noticeable. I ordered half sweet because I usually go into a sugar coma from coming here, but I think «half sweet» actually just means «half flavor.» Not happy about paying $ 6.50 for a big cup of warm milk!
I’m conflicted because I love having a bubble tea place on College Hill, but I don’t love having this bubble tea place on College Hill.

All my friends recommended this place to me, but it’s kind of the only place around if you want these kind of drinks or desserts. I’ve honestly had way better bubble tea.

Bubble tea — I got the bubble tea and their bubbles were made amazingly! They cook it in honey so it you can taste the sweetness when chewing the bubbles! I got the rose bubble tea and they use actually tea leaves.
Snow — the snow flavor is stronger than most of the other places which I really like. The ice is so flaky but melts very creamy. I tried the green tea one and the original. Love both!

Cute little place and shaved ice was pretty good for RI. I would come back here again. Service was good and fast.

I ventured here with a friend after our late night korean bbq trip. This place is too cute from the cool wall to the penguin water dispenser. Snotea serves bubble tea and shaved ice. I haven’t had the chance to try the shaved ice but will try on my next visit.
We came in around 10:58 and the lady that locked the door didn’t wave us off, she was so sweet and motioned to us come in as we were backing away since we thought they wouldn’t take anymore customers. we just ordered two drinks and she made them really quickly answering all my questions.
this is probably one of the few bubble tea places that I have found to serve rose milk tea. It is a very different drink and is worth trying.
Overall, the place is very clean. It is the first place that I have tried bubble tea in RI and i’ve been reluctant to try other bubble tea places even though tealuxe is down the street. It’s a cozy place to just stay and hang for a while or even just sit and get some work done.

As far as shaved ice goes, this is THE go-​to place in all of Rhode Island. I’ve only heard amazing recommendations from friends who’ve eaten more shaved ice in China than I have eaten ice cream in the states. On initial impression, SnoTea did not blow my socks off. The tables were not immaculately cleaned, kinda sticky, and could certainly use a little bit more décor. The food, on the other hand, was a totally different experience. We had chosen to sample the small sized original milk and green tea shaved ice with red beans. The shaved ice was smooth, silky and reminded me of homemade icecream from China (for good or bad). The cost was a bit on the pricier side, although the portions of both icecreams were adequate for the group of 4. I was interested in trying out the mega-​bread bowls, but the staff told me it wasn’t really that spectacular, so I was (honestly) a little bit bummed out.
Overall, I think this place is not gonna have any issues with customers during the summer seasons, but I would recommend cheaper pricing and more lighting.
Food: 4 stars
Price: 3 – 4 stars
Ambiance: 3 stars

The people behind the counter were very helpful. There was a big selection to chose from which made ordering hard. I think there were actually three different menus.
The hot taro tea was perfect and came steaming hot. I also got the sweet toast with condensed milk on the side. I didn’t want the crunchy toast to get soggy with the milk on top of it. This dessert was really good, reminded me of having dipping my hot French bread in a cup of condensed milk.
Of course I had to try the snow. I got taro, my son got the green tea. I would recommend the green tea if your getting other sweet toppings since to much sweetness is overwhelming. Overall everything was good. Also, portions of snow were big enough to share.
I’ll have to come back for bubble tea.

Walked into snotea and got a big whiff of… I would have to say… something rotten??? Probably from the soups some of the customers had… not really a good mix for a bubble tea shop…
Still had to try to bubble tea. Got the taro milk and taro slushi…
First off. It took them literally 20 – 25 minutes for the drinks to come out. Then the worker put her dirty hands on the straw and dunked it into the top. Ok fine… I’m over it. Just waiting on the 4.5 star bubble tea.
The slushi was all Ice and sugar with a little taro powder…
The milk tea still had powder remnants to it. Had a pretty bad after taste.
I’ll have to pass next time…

The Unilocal reviews seemed promising and the pictures looked appetizing, however, our visit ended in major disappointment. Being from California, I’m used to great boba/​bubble tea and I was excited to hear SnoTea Caffe had the best in Providence.
I decided on a Taro «smoothie» and a strawberry with mango ice cream Hawaiian Crêpe and my boyfriend decided on a soursop «jelly ice» and their famous Oreo honey toast.
The Taro boba tasted like crushed ice that just happened to look purple. It tasted nothing like a traditional «snow». The crêpe was fine, nothing to write home about. The jelly ice was good but half the drink was filled with bubbles and there was not much to drink before being overwhelmed with starch. The presentation of the honey toast was really fun, I admit I Instagrammed it, but again, nothing to write home about.
Overall, the atmosphere was cute with the available boardgames and the presentation of the food was nice but I will not be returning.

Glad that shaved ice’s brought here. Wouldn’t say food was exceptional but they fall within decency in my dictionary. We had the Oreo brick toast, passion fruit tea and mixed fruit crepes. Plenty of ingredients that went into them so the price was worth it.

I’m comfortable saying that this place has the best boba I’ve found in the Providence/​Boston area so far. The tapioca pearls are really perfectly cooked, and there’s an art to making them right. Most places, including my poor excuse of a home kitchen, either make the tapioca pearls way too mushy or hard or otherwise don’t use the honey/​kumquat/​sugary stuff to keep them. So if I’m wanting boba, this is the spot.
Now for the tea itself, if you’ve been blessed by the tea angels in Asia, especially in Taiwanese tea nirvana, you’ll know that they typically use a lower grade tea b/​c you just don’t waste high quality tea by hiding it in a sugar/​milk solution. SnoTea place is no different. If you want high grade tea, it’s not here and basically, you’re missing the point of milk tea. Milk tea is dessert, baby, and all the carbs and sugar are perfectly designed to destroy your waistline via addictive liquid and carby chewy ball consumption. In Asia you can customize sugar and order full sweet, ½ sweet, ¼ sweet, unsweetened, and SnoTea will do that for you too.
I do feel that I should warn newbies that there is no foodie pain like foodie pain in Asia, where if you order something spicy or hot or whatever, it’s gonna HURT. So, if you order hot milk tea, test it first with a finger before you have the soft tissue on your tongue and throat brutalized by the scalding hot temperature of the tea you may order (seriously, OW).
Oh, their shaved snow is aight too. It also helps ease throat torture from said scaldingly hot milk tea.

This place is really cute and is bound for success when students return in the fall. They make their own boba, have a nice selection of milk teas and desserts, and their honey toast is absolutely INCREDIBLE. We split the $ 12 «large» size and could not finish – delicious fresh bread and a really generous amount of ice cream.
Food preparation wasn’t super fast, but they provide a selection of board and card games to play. The heat of competition made the wait feel short!

You’re looking for boba, bubble tea, something tasty like honey toast or ramen noodles. Look no further because right here off of Thayer street you have your one stop shop for all those things Asian (actually more Taiwanese than anything). How do they come up with these tasty treats? And what is this Snow?!
Sure there are a few places around town that in addition to their main foods they offer some bubble tea drinks. They never measure up! They may fulfill the craving at that moment but they never really satisfy that desire to have more. Here at SnoTea they have a long list of various drinks that you can boba/​bubble to including ice teas, icees and yogurt. My favorite by far is the red bean because no where else that I have found here in Providence is there a place that has red bean bubble tea.
And what is snow? Apparently it’s something I have been missing out on. No quite shaved ice yet not quite ice cream. This delectable dessert is apparently a flavored block of ice that is shaved into very thinly slices such that the final product is smooth and soft like ice cream but is in fact a large block of ice. You’d never know. Had the mango flavor and it was satisfying and never left you feeling guilty that you just ate dessert. They also have a wide range of macarons that you can order as well as cakes!
Parking is always difficult on this street but if you park on the off shoots of Thayer, you’ll have access to all the restaurants in this college-​y part of town.

I stumbled upon this little place tucked away on Waterman during one of my lonely 5 mile jogs (because my new Brown U. buds don’t run) and decided to try out the bubble tea. Upon looking at the menu, I noticed there was a very extensive list of drinks (hello, decision paralysis!). However, I wasn’t too worried about taking my time deciding because I was the only one there — it really worries me when I am the only customer. Although, I think this place is new so maybe the word hasn’t spread yet?
While I didn’t get bubble tea, I got the lychee jelly drink. It was pink. I was slightly baffled at first because lychee is… white. I took a sip and was presently surprised. It was tasty and hit the spot on a hot day (dehydration aside).

I was won over by the staff during my first visit because they were friendly, helpful, and upbeat.
I was in a hurry and craving bubble tea, so I thought I would give this relatively new establishment a try. When I walked in just before noon, I was informed that the boba machine was warming up (or whatever the proper terminology is), so I could not have anything with traditional bobas. I was disappointed (hence my four stars), but the staff was so willing to help me find something else to try that their enthusiasm won me over.
My favorite question to ask employees (at ice cream stores, restaurants, wherever) is what THEIR favorite food/​flavors/​drinks are, and I’m hesitant when they don’t have an answer. The girl I talked to, however, was full of recommendations. She recommended grass jelly in lieu of bobas, which sounded scary and unappetizing, so she let me sample it (surprisingly, pretty good) and she suggested milk teas to pair with it. I was in the mood for a fruity green tea, however, so I went with a bursting mango bobas instead. The tea had a nice flavor and I was given a generous scoop of bobas, but it seemed a little pricey for how quickly I consumed it. I definitely plan to return for a bubble tea when the bobas are available and take her other recommendation: iced brown sugar tea, half sugar, with red beans and bobas.
Sounds amazing!

The brick toast, boba, crepes and shaved snow might not impress someone from Southern California, but I thought it was not bad for Providence! My favorite thing about Snotea is the games that they have. Definitely fun to come with a group of friends and enjoy a few rounds of makeshift Jenga among other less disruptive card/​board games.
I’ve tried the yogurt, green tea with red bean, and taro shaved snow and liked the green tea best. In terms of smoothies, I’m bummed they don’t use real fruit… if they made real fruit avocado or mango smoothies, I might become a regular!
Boba is decent, and they have an impressive selection on the menu, including chrysanthemum tea, lychee tea, and a variety of toppings. I’ve seen people order brick toast at it looks like a lot of fun — basically a toast «box» filled with ice cream, fruits, whipped cream, macarons…
One time the wait staff came around with little chocolate mousse cakes — treats from the kitchen! The staff is very nice and they try hard to make sure everyone has a good time.

Finally – truly respectable bubble tea in New England!
Some would call me a bubble tea enthusiast and connoisseur. Though I’ll admit that I’ve had bubble tea everywhere from Taiwan, Amsterdam, and London to NYC, Seattle, LA, and Boston, it’s less intellectual curiosity that drives me than straight hard addiction. Like crack or heroin, bubble tea brings me to a happy place with double rainbows.
That being said, I never really developed a deep connection to the bubble tea in New England… until now.
SnoTea is the first truly Asian, truly respectable Taiwanese bubble tea on the block. The tea is strong in a way that really pulsates good caffeine. The flavors are authentic. The milk is of the «not too creamy» variety that permeates a lactose-​intolerant Asian universe.
But most importantly, the BOBA is SO LEGIT. And by legit, I mean soft but chewy in a «this should take a while to dissolve in my stomach» sort of way. The boba are fresh and thoroughly cooked – no hard cores here – and the black honey liqueur that drenches them is absolutely divine.
I give my highest accolades to SnoTea.
Tip: Try the ICED BROWN SUGAR MILK TEA. Like crack on a cold wintry day.

My rating is really more of a 3.5, but I’m rounding up because I went during their soft opening and they’re still figuring things out.
Snotea offers a variety of bubble teas, crepes, fancy toasts, and shaved ice. They also have card and board games available to play at your table. We played Jenga, which perhaps they really shouldn’t offer, as the game can make a mess everywhere and disturb other customers.
I ordered a barley milk tea and a mixed fruit crêpe. The tea was pretty good. The crêpe was a bit sweet and was hard to eat since they serve it in a paper cone without utensils. I ended up asking for a fork and a plate.
We were going to order one of their fancy toasts (6in x 6in x 6in) blocks of bread filled with fruit and icecream, but they warned us it would take 20 minutes to make.
Overall I’ll definitely be back for a quick bubble tea, but I’ll need to try the food again to determine if I like it.