Ten Ren’s Tea

Worst Milk Tea I have ever have
and worst asian lady I have ever met!!!
DONT EVER GO TO THIS MILK TEA SHOP!!!

Loved their special Mango Smoothie with Boba. Very refreshing and only $ 5 with a bottled water.

Unfortunately, I did not like the tea at this location. They were all pre made and tastes 80% milk /​20% tea. Was very disappointed as I love the Ten Ren in Cupertino. I expected it to be the same. I guess not. At least I still get to enjoy Ten Ren back home! :)

Definitely the best boba place in the city. The flavor of the tea is strong. Boba is chewy and the sweetness is just right. Bonus; you don’t have to wait in line.
The best boba tea I’ve ever had was the one of Ten Ren in Taiwan. I have never had the one that competes with it outside the country but this place’s are pretty close.
You might think the sales ladies here are a bit rude but if you try communicating them in their language even a little, you may know that they are sweet and kind.
If you love tea but be bored with the ones you can find at every Walgreens but be hesitant to the pricey ones you see at the back of the shop, the $ 5 ones packed with a plastic bag and simple rough paper with handwritings, which is placed across the boba tea counter, are must try. They are cheap, but have a strong aroma and flavor.

I’ve been here a handful of times. It’s the Ten Ren located in Chinatown. Past few times I probably would have rated it 4 stars. The most recent time (Sunday, 3÷6÷16) I wasn’t too impressed with their tea because the boba was not QQ enough and my jasmine green tea half sweetened strong enough. Final verdict is if you are already in Chinatown and willing to shell out Ten Ren prices for tea, then by all means go for it. Otherwise, my current favorite boba place in the city is probably Pleantea, also in Chinatown. It’s comparable to Ten Ren prices but you also get to keep a glass mug.

I absolutely adore this place. Its quaint, cozy, and the people are sweet. Two options. You can sit at the counter, drink tea and chat with the person working about all their teas and suggestions. This is my preference because they’ve got little jars of dry tea to smell and try samples of if you aren’t sure what you want just yet. If this isn’t up your alley, just order and bring your tea upstairs. There’s not much seating but its warm and great for studying or chatting with a few friends. It’s not the most welcoming seating area at first but give it a shot if you don’t want to sit right up front at the counter. Alternatively, you can grab tea to go and just check out the area!

The boba is good but the only thing is the lady who was attending me
Because she gave me a rude ass attitude when I asked her if she can repeat my order just to make sure it was right but then she also kind of threw my boba
I felt like she was so disrespectful

Ten Ren Tea is a great place if you happen to be a tea connoisseur or are simply looking for quality tea. It’s a small shop with friendly, professional, knowledgable staff. They offer a variety Greens, Blacks, Jasmine, and Oolongs, along with a variety of herbal teas at very affordable prices. I purchased the Hibiscus tea and the Plum tea and have been enjoying them both.
Ten Ren’s Tea is a cool place to explore, especially if you are a tourist (like me), and happen to be strolling through Chinatown.
⁰⁸⁄₁₀₀. Unilocal Challenge.(2016)

Yummy and cheap. At the end of the day, Ten Ren’s isn’t my favorite cup of boba in San Francisco, but it’s a perfect accompaniment to a janky plastic box of take-​out dim sum, and the prices can’t be beat. My friend and I each ordered large jasmine milk teas with boba, and it came out to $ 7.50. Bring cash!

WHITE PEACH GREEN TEA IS HEAVEN! Especially if you order it not too sweet ! Ten Ren is real tea, none of the powder bs. The ladies working there doesn’t really understand English but it is what it is ! Worth ! Their boba has days where it perfect and days where it’s too soft, but that also depends on how long that batch has sat in the honey water.
They’re only losing stars because of the parking and cash only rule when I was there.

The shop is located in China town. The environment is nice and the staff are so kind. The offer many kinds of milk tea. I ordered milk green tea with Bobs inside. It tastes so good. It really deserves a try.

Mary made our visit to this tea shop very pleasant. She offered a variety of teas to choose from and was very welcoming. My fiancé and I enjoyed talking to her while enjoying a cup of the spring sprout oolong tea. It was nice to be able to sit down and just have a conversation with a new person over a hot cup of tea. We are pretty social and are always open to meet new people. Overall great place to go if you want to try some delicious tea and want to learn a bit of trivia about Taiwan.

A very nice place in Chinatown to enjoy some tea. The place was very clean, had TONS on tea to choose from and we enjoyed nice conversation with one of the staff.
Bookmarked…

This tea place felt like dinner and a movie — well, not exactly, but there wasn’t just tea for purchase — it was an experience!
The staff was so eager to make and brew teas for us. As others have noted, it was fascinating to taste and learn about the various stages of the brews, the background of where the teas came from, the explanation of the names, etc.
We were there nearly a half an hour trying to decide what we wanted to purchase. We would think we know, and they would realize we hadn’t tried (XYZ) and brew us some more. How fun!!!
Anyway, great service, and great tea. The blueberry tea I purchased is so delicious :)

Bottom Line: More than just tea, Ren Ten’s also serves a delightful cup of culture.
Chinatown can be confusing as it seems many shops are offering the same thing. If you are thinking about trying some tea, Ren Ten’s is a good place to drop in but I think I still prefer Vital Leaf Tea up the street. Here are a few notes that drew me to my conclusion so you can decide if Ren Ten’s Tea is on your shopping list:
You’ll know you have arrived at Ren Ten’s when you see the large tea pot fountain outside the door. I just love the whimsy of this garden/​front step decoration.
Like the other tea shops on Grant Avenue, Ren Ten’s offers «free» tea tastings. I like tasting tea but I also enjoy the experience of watching the tea connoisseur pour tea over the intricate tea tables. Here, our hostess at the free tea tasting was very kind, calming and informative. She was patient with our crowd as we inquired about different teas, the types of teas, etc. As a tea lover, of course my tasting wasn’t «free.» I am a sucker for jasmine pearls so I left with a 4 oz. bag of jasmine pearls. One thing I don’t love about Ren Ten’s tea and many others on the street is that the loose tea comes prepackaged. For some reason, I feel better about the quality of the tea when they weigh it out and package it in front of me. Additionally, at Ren Ten’s the packaging is an opaque bag so you can’t actually see what’s inside. I personally like to be able to see the product especially when spending a lot of money on tea but perhaps the opaque packaging will keep the tea fresher longer. (Then again, isn’t «fresh tea» an oxymoron?)
Overall it was a nice experience here although I do feel like I overpaid for some mysterious tea hidden in an opaque package.

If you’re looking for boba, Ten Ren’s boba shop is at a different location. This store is truly for tea enthusiasts.
The bar is equipped with clay tea sets and various tea leaves you can ask to try. My boyfriend and I enjoy the Pu-​Erh most for its strong and earthy flavor, and my boyfriend ended up buying a large cup to-​go. The hostess was kind and skillful, chatting with us as she brewed tea samples.
Opposite of the bar is a wall of packaged tea bags, loose-​leaf teas, and even fancy tea cookies — not the kind of sweet cookie you eat, but tea leaves that are packed together into a cookie shape and are generally better quality than tea bags or loose-​leaf teas. My boyfriend gets these as presents on occasion from his grandparents or parents, so they’re definitely fancy and special if you’re looking to gift a tea enthusiast as well.
Definitely worth a stop if you’re looking for good tea or a cultural experience.

Real tea flavor, none of that powdered sugary stuff.
Ten Ren is probably one of the best places I’ve been to for milk tea. It actually tastes like tea and not just sugary milk. No need for toppings.
Jasmine Green Milk Tea: Too many places I’ve been to make their milk teas too sweet and milky without tea flavor. The first thing I tasted when I took a sip was… TEA.
Roasted Oolong Tea: Super fragrant, heavy roasted flavor. One of the best roasted milk teas I’ve ever had.
I also love getting their green tea bags. My favorite.
Minus one star for not being able to make my drink hot. It was so freaking cold that day and a hot milk tea would’ve hit the spot. Ten Ren, make a hot milk tea menu and I’ll upgrade you to 5 stars.

They’ve got all the tea in China (town)
After letting us have a seat and sample tea after tea, we selected a pack of jasmine tea that looked and smelled divine!
They had all the tea accessories that you’d ever need. Tea cups, kettles, stands to put your kettles on. They’ve got it all! I never realized how much of an art drinking tea is. I guess I’m just used to good ol’ sweet tea from Texas, but this is completely different. They had every kind of tea you can think of, including the flower blossoms– where you throw them in the hot water, and they «bloom» into a little flower on the bottom of your tea cup. I was blown away! All the tea is in glass jars, so you can see what you’re drinking or shopping for.
The service was nice, and the tea shop worker was friendly and knowledgeable.
I really enjoyed the tea, and how much care they put into the shop.

Got the milk green tea with tapioca. The drink was very watered down, didn’t taste milky or like tea. The tapioca was a little hard and not sweet at all (although I guess I’ve been spoiled as the places I usually go to soak them in sugar/​honey). For the price I expected better, especially as they use ‘real’ tea.

BEWARE of menopausal Asian women!
After eating delicious freshly baked egg tarts from Golden Gate Bakery my friends suggested for us to enjoy our egg tarts with some tea so we decided to check out Ten Ren’s for a tea sampling. As we arrived a group of people had already finished their tea sampling and were leaving. We found an empty table and sat down after letting one of the workers know that we were also interested in the tea sampling.
As we waited for our turn I asked one of the workers in the front for the restroom key and her response to me was that the restroom was for paying customers and I didn’t pay for anything. I told her I was with a party of friends for the tea sampling and she still insisted that I needed to buy something to use their restroom. I gave up arguing with her and slipped into the restroom anyway after I saw someone come out. — STRIKE 1
Once one of the ladies came over to give us our tea sampling we realized that she only offered us a sample of the Rose Jasmine Green tea from the front of the store and it wasn’t an official tea sampling like the group before us had received. She got irritated at this point and indicated that the official tea sampling was for those who want to purchase at least an ounce of the loose tea in the store. Since we looked like a bunch of young people I guess they figured we weren’t interested in purchasing any tea. Little did she know that my bf was in fact interested in purchasing tea for his mom so we told her that we would buy tea and to proceed with the official tea sampling for us. After charging my bf $ 40 for 4 measly ounces of tea she proceeded in giving us fresh tea samples finally. –STRIKE 2
At one point my friend had ordered tea to take to go and she had an issue with the cap which kept falling off. She complained that she had a hard time keeping the cap on the cup and perhaps needed a new cap for it. The lady serving us got frustrated with her and told her that there was nothing wrong with the cap and that she just didn’t push down on the cap hard enough so she proceeded in showing her how it is properly done. Well we went back to the car and the cap came off again shortly afterwards so I guess she didn’t know how to properly put on the lid as well. –STRIKE 3 YOU ARE OUT!
I’ve been to many Ten Ren’s and this is the only location where I’ve seen middle-​aged Asian women working. Usually I’m greeted by younger workers so perhaps Ten Ren’s should reconsider hiring menopausal middle aged women since their customer service skills are completely lacking.
TIP* There are TONS of tea stores in Chinatown SF so no need to have to deal with poor customer service when there are so many other options just down the street.