Zen Cha Tea Salon - Tea and Bubbles in Columbus Ohio

Zen Cha Tea Salon's Cute sign

On the Third day of our visit to see Ryan in Columbus, we happened upon a cute tea shop called Zen Cha Tea Salon.

982 North High Street
Columbus, OH 43201
(614) 421-2140

We were walking along a cute street called High Street, which seemed to be in a particularly trendy area in Columbus. I was surprised at the amount of well-cared for and really well merchandised and stocked shops! There were quite a few shops of the Anthropologie-esque variety, and a couple more shops like a cute vintage place and a chocolate shop that sold bon bons and truffles.



Left to Right - Silver Needles White Tea , house Pu Erh Tea

A couple doors in from the corner was Zen Cha Tea Salon. Noone in our party had been there before, so we were unsure of what we'd find. We walked in and were seated at a little square table near the front of the room. It was a pretty spacious place, with 15 or so small tables. A College game must have just gotten out right after we sat down, because the room was soon filled with mobs of people.


Milk Tea with Tapioca Pearls

The menu was a mixed bag of traditional tea as well as some custom house sweet teas and a handful of bubble teas. Chris went straight for the Milk Tea, Jenny got the Silver Needles White tea, I got their house Pu erh tea, and Ryan wanted something called Pudding Milk tea, and ended up changing his mind and going for Caramel Milk Tea.


Caramel Milk Tea

Chris's Milk Tea was quite sweet, but good. He really liked it - in fact, it's "exactly what he was looking for" The pearls were also done well, not too squishy, and unflavored.

Ryan's Caramel Milk tea was a hot drink that came in a tiny pot - it looked really rich, and was really sweet. The server had told us it was probably the most dessert-like tea on the menu aside from the Pudding Milk Tea (which is still a mystery).

Jenny's tea was super light. The server had steeped and poured her first cup, which looked no more like tea than a cup of mildly discolored water. You can really see the difference between the really deep color of the Pu Ehr tea I had in the picture above. Hers was a little floral in taste, but really light and good.



A Cute Tea Setting for Jenny's Silver Needles


My Pu Ehr tea was awesome. I had a conversation with some people at one of our local tea houses last week about the weird descriptions that seem to fit the interesting flavors of Pu Ehr. This one was a little "Barn-y" - which to most people wouldn't sound appetizing at all. It was really smooth with no bitter aftertaste. It came in a tiny cake inside a small ceramic pot. I oversteeped my second cup because I'm way too slow at my tea-intake, but it was great either way!

Awesome place. I'd definitely visit again if I were looking to relax in a nice quiet atmosphere for a while. The staff was really nice and helpful. If you are looking to spend at least a half hour at a tea place where they care about the quality of your drink, this is a great place.