Zen Tara Tea, Bethesda MD

During our visit to Bethesda this past weekend, we also stopped by the Zen Tara Tea shop some of my girl friends are raving about.  We only picked up bubble tea to go since we had our puppy dog with us.  The place is small, but warm and cozy.  Probably a good place to linger and hang out for a bit, but since we couldn't take the dog inside, this post is strictly about their bubble tea and smoothie.

small store front

I ordered one regular black tea with milk and sugar for the dude.  Since the owner gave me an option, I picked the soy milk instead of regular milk.  The black milk tea was very different from traditional bubble tea shops in the area.  It had more tea flavor than anything else.  There was hardly any sugar, and the owner was very easy on the milk which I didn't mind, but the tapioca was borderline bad.  They were hard and not very chewy, also didn't have much taste (not sweetened like most other places).  Their black tea tasted very good though, not bitter or acidic like some other shops on a bad day.

I ordered the matcha smoothie.  It was pretty good and not overly sweet like other places.  Again, the tapioca was not up to par from this store, probably because it's not something they're known for.  Overall, I was somewhat disappointed with the tapioca served, but if you're in the area for a good pot of tea and some tea snacks, this might be a good spot to check out.

black tea with soy milk and matcha smoothie

Zen Tara Tea
4710 Bethesda Avenue
Bethesda, MD 20814