Presotea — Restaurant in Richmond

As this was the most breathtakingly terrible bubble tea I’ve ever had the displeasure to try, I simply had to leave a review.

Now, the first thing you’ll notice when you walk into the store is that there are no prices. In order to know how much a drink is, you have to ask the clerk. These prices are additionally a good $1-2 more expensive than any other bubble tea location despite (a) the horrible quality, and (b) not being in a prime location like downtown Richmond. Expect to pay over $8 for a single drink with tapioca.

But it was a snowy day, and I didn’t want to drive all the way to downtown Richmond, so I figured- ah, well, I can pay $1-2 extra for the convenience. Fine.

That was a mistake. Don’t make the same mistake as me.

I have an immense sweet tooth. I usually get 100% sugar when getting bubble tea. But when going to a new place, I usually opt for less sugar just to be safe.

So when I say the less sugar milk tea I got was far too sweet for even me to drink, you know it’s completely unpalatable. I have no idea how this place hasn’t shut down. I had to cut the drink with 2:1 ratio in favour of milk to make it even drinkable as some kind of fresh milk amalgamation. It was like drinking watered down syrup. And it was certainly watered down. Not only was it sickly sweet, it tasted more like water than milk.

In all my time ordering bubble tea, never have I ever tried a drink as horrible as the milk tea at Prestotea. In a way, that’s an achievement. Until I ordered bbt here, I thought that even the worst bubble tea would be at most mediocre. I know better now: bubble tea can be undrinkable, and Prestotea proves it.

The pearls were fine though, which is...

The tea flavor in this place or the chain overall is on the heavier side in comparison to other large bbt chains who often have a lot more milk blended in instead.

Instead of brewing large amount of teas and place them inside large jugs that you often find everywhere else, this place brew the tea bags right after you order, causing a very strong and fresh tea flavor but also means they can take a bit longer.

Their pearls tend to be really fresh, and have very friendly staff working.

With the above in mind if you are looking for tea heavy places then this is the one to go, but if you are more into bbt with more milk and sugar blended in, then you might want to try normal sugar the first time.

They have a lot of unique flavors such as Okinawa brown sugar, hokkaido milk tea or hojicha roasted milk tea which I can...

Have visited Presotea a few times with friends and it has never disappointed me. Solid refreshing tea drinks that are made with real tea leaves, which makes the tea flavours a lot stronger than the ones you have elsewhere. Today I wanted to try a green tea base so I ordered the Passionfruit Oolong Tea with Pearls and Jelly, 50% sweet and less ice. It was just the right amount of sweetness for me soo I can't imagine how sweet it would be if it was FULL SWEET. The oolong taste is subtle and the passion fruit juice complements the chewiness of the pearls and jelly. I love the two textures of the toppings, bouncy and chewy, which made my drink...