TenRen’s Tea Ginseng — Restaurant in Rockville

===== Nov 2024 update ===== Super premium loose leaf tea, check.

Bubbletea drinks using in-house brewed tea, check.

Tea house that only specializes in tea and doesn't sprawl to sell non-tea products, check.

Yup, still 5 stars.

2018 review ===== ⚠️ Spoiler alert:. Best authentic tea house in DMV area....... And they serve bubbletea too. ⚠️

With ubiquitous coffee shops that dot the horizon as far as the eye can see, it is a relief that we have an old school, real teahouse store that can cater to the most discriminating tea-toting connoisseur. Without a doubt, Ten Ren Tea is one of the original powerhouse purveyor of ULTRA-HIGH grade loose leaf tea from Asia ...... a.k.a. up to TGFOP—Tippy Golden Flowery Orange Pekoe grade for those looking for a western translation. I do not know of any actual teahouse stores around the DC Metro area that carry these varieties of spectacular teas in old school tea tins where you pay by the oz. Yes, I said oz because some of these teas carry price tags north of ~$200 per pound. They have bagged teas as well for those looking for something more affordable.

They do sell whole ginseng root as well if you are into it. But back to teas. I am partial to their "dragon well", "white", "bittermelon leaf" which I cannot find in any modern tea stores. Oh, while I have had the truly awesome emperor/regional [read: ultra-luxury] teas a couple times and they are really nice...., I'll settle for what I can afford. Next favorites are chamomile and oolong teas - really cannot find the same quality and clean astringent taste anywhere else. The same or similar teas from other well-known western brands actually taste very different especially in the green, chamomile, and oolong varieties.

And for the younger generation readers not interested in one of the oldest beverages in human history, Ten Ren Tea offers one of the youngest exciting beverages from Asian ---- it's👏BUBBLE TEA❣️! And not just anything bubble tea drink. Ten Ren Tea is my 2nd favorite bubble tea store where you can actually taste the tea infused into boba and full-body tea flavor in the drink. Don't order the powder based foo-foo tea drink here. You are at a teahouse, so try the unadulterated bubbletea with black or green tea (with or without milk) and tea-infused boba. So go ahead, be free, and...

I have never written a review of an establishment before even though I have had some negative business experiences none have motivated me to warn other future customers like this.

I ordered a starfruit bubble tea today and tasted it and it tasted nothing like the taste of starfruit. I am never a picky person and would be happy to drink a flavor I'm not fond of if I ordered it but this was absolutely undrinkable.

I took it back in and asked if they could change it or if it was perhaps incorrectly made maybe the wrong flavor since it tasted more similar to their "smoked plum" flavor than starfruit. They told me I would know if it was smoked plum because it should taste almost like BBQ- why someone would want a BBQ tasting bubble tea I have no idea- and that starfruit should taste like a salty plum (i have tried starfruit itself several times and it does not).

A woman across the shop (not the one who made the drink) proceeded to yell at me across other customers as I was speaking to the other women. I stepped back and waited for all the customers to be served and leave before reproaching the situation so that she didn't make a scene to others. I asked if it was possible to switch the flavor or be refunded and purchase another since I wasn't able to drink it. She told me no one would do that with a raised voice yelling at me even though I was right in front of her speaking calmly and softly. I had to ask her to stop yelling say that I was not and to please stop berating me.

It was a horrible horrible experience I have no comparison to. She ended up adding black tea to the top and it was less strong but the same flavor. I hope no one else has to experience this!! I still had to end up throwing out the great majority of it after trying to force myself to get my money’s worth by sipping a few times but just ended up feeling a bit nauseous...

To begin, the tea itself deserves 5/5 stars. There is a wide variety of flavors and most of the employees are very friendly. I have been coming to Ten Ren for nearly 5 years with my daughters almost always at once a week (and have always been loyal customers which is even acknowledged by the employees), and before easily could have said that it was the best boba in the area. But what changed my perspective on the shop, is the rude owner. He never looks happy to be attending costumers, and does not treat the customers the right way. He can also sometimes be heard talking loudly/angrily towards the employees. But what really pushed it over the top, is that recently when my wife went to order a drink with boba on the side, he told her that there was a new policy that charged an additional fee to put the boba that came with the drink on the side, claiming that it was a lot more work. This was ridiculous, I doubt that many other costumers order boba on the side, and the way that he said it, made it seem like he came up with that on the spot to prevent us from getting boba on the side. Additionally how hard is it to scoop boba into a cup instead of the drink? It’s the same action. Also the prices have recently been raised, to about $5.49 for a small tea, the cup itself is very small and the price is too much. I can get a large boba, for $5 at other places. We would have kept going to Ten Ren perhaps less often because of the price, but with a rude owner like that, we will be going to different places now. One day maybe we’ll go back when the owner learns to respect customers. Other than that there are wonderful employees who make it welcoming, and treat you nicely, they are the reason people keep going...