Tealive Somerset Chinatown

The workers there are always so uplifting and polite especially Maria. She helped me with my order super well and she always had a smile on her face which brightens up the mood for everyone. We need more people like her who can a purchase a lovely experience. Aside from the employees the drinks and food there are outstanding. Definitely coming back more in the future! Best spot downtown hands down!

I ordered a matcha smoothie and I could heavily taste the matcha powder and nothing else. For the price, pretty mediocre. I had also ordered a toastea and it was also quite bad, with an unnecessarily high price. Would recommend going to Chatime which is just a block down the street from here and generally better prices.

Definitely most uncomfortable experience ordering bubble tea. I walk in, once at the register, staff at the register don’t look up so I walk back to a machine but I kinda wanted to just go out the door then I order on the machine but the receipt won’t come out so I realize I have to go back to the counter and this time was told to wait a moment hahah. I wait for like 2 minutes and she’s like “I can take your order now” and I wanted to say “can I have a refund? ” but honestly rather keep the interaction to a minimum. I explained my receipt is stuck in the machine. Then just went to sit down and waited to hear the name of the drink cause I was so over it.

The staff is always very friendly. Great customer service. I always leave with a smile on my face:)

Got Brown Sugar Bubble Taro Tea; tasted match what I wanted, but the liquid was grainy. This would be the only time I'd appreciate powered Taro.

I just placed an order on Skip at Tealive. I ordered the salted caramel milk tea for myself and the thai milk tea for my mother. Both taste amazing. 100% coming back! Thank you!

Sub-par everything. Interior wise, nothing to be shocked about. Customer service is alright, drinks are pretty inconsistent.

Pearls/Sago can vary in QQness depending on the day/time. I ordered a 50% sugar signature milk tea with pearls, couldn't really taste the milk or tea; the only thing I could taste was sugar (it was very very sweet). My friend ordered a 3Q mango green tea with less sugar, it tasted very watered down with mushy toppings.

I've been to this place now 2 times with my mom and I simply love their boba drinks. Sooo good and refreshing (I'd come here all the time if it were closer to my house). I will 100% come here again. PS: the workers are super friendly and make the drinks very well.

I don't write reviews, but seeing some of the reviews here, some are harsh and unnecessary. Being in a customer service base business, I know exactly how it is to deal with busy days and tough customers. We went in for the first time during their "BOGO? " weekend and the place was packed. Staff, I counted at least 6, was not slow, and we still expected there to be a fair wait time, but surprisingly, we got our drinks within 15 mins and there were a huge line of drinks to be made.
Got the taro tea and mango smoothie. Pearls were soft and chewy. Drinks were not overly sweet like most other tea places. Half sugar was perfect.
Overheard someone say that location use to be a Chatime. Big shoes to fill, but seems they are doing well. I support the little guy over the big giants any day.

Anybody who rates this place 1 star NEEDS to have their internet privileges revoked immediately. I am a bubble tea connoisseur. I am the king of bubble tea. I know what good bubble tea is. Nobody knows this space better than I do. And I will say without a doubt. That this place is the greatest bubble tea establishment in Ottawa and it really isn’t even close. Tea Live Forever.

This place is not meant to be open they do not know how to make drinks. I would highly recommend not stepping foot. I took 3 sips, went home and started puking.something is seriously wrong.

The staff recommended to try taro milk tea and so glad she did. By far the best I've had. Doesn't taste powdery like most. Just found our favourite bbt joint.

Came to visit yesterday because of their BOGO promotion and waited nearly an hour for 4 drinks. Customers who arrived later were receiving their orders before us, and when confronted, the staff had apologized saying they forgot about the order. We had noticed they were busy and did not want to contribute any additional stress and chose to wait patiently, recognizing that working conditions like such are usually the outcome of incompetent management and inadequate staffing arrangements.

My friend posted a review on maps and received a reply where the business asked us if we had confused this bubble tea shop with another one down the street (Chatime), then edited the response claiming there were printer-related issues. If this were the case, it should have been announced to the numerous seemingly-frustrated customers waiting in line.

Unfortunately, the bubble tea tasted diluted although we had requested for less ice. The tapioca pearls were undercooked as well. Despite the abundant seating, my friends and I will not be returning as it is not worth the money.

Wait is often long without an explanation and the drinks I had in two separate occasions were underwhelming.

There was a lady at the cash, Bolorma if I remember correctly, was super sweet and kind and left me great impression of this establishment.

Came here from Montreal. Just passed by because it open late at night (until 12am). My order was Aren Palm pearl milktea with extra Black diamond jelly & cheese, because I can't taste it in Montreal so I wanted to try each.
I love it soooo much. The tapioca is chewy, the cheese not that sweet and the taste of palm sugar is just perfect. I ordered half of sugar and I would recommend you the same thing. So perfect! This place is now on my must-go list everytime I come Ottawa. See you soon

UPDATE:
I’d like to note that the following statement in quotes is this business’s original reply. Tealive being so petty about their beef with Chatime is hilarious and for that alone I don’t have respect for this business. For the record, my friend had gone to the pick up counter more than once to check on the status of her drinks. Aside from this experience, my friend had gone to pick up a bubble tea for my birthday in December and had to wait 45 minutes, so my original review was written after a second bad experience.

“Hi Yoshuna. Our wait time today, after order is placed and even it being very busy with our BOGO special, is no more than 15 minutes. Are you confusing us with another BBT down the street? ”

They then changed their response to:
“Hi Yoshuna. We've had no complaints about long wait times today, but with BOGO this weekend, we've been busy and wait times may be longer than normal but if you ever feel like you've been waiting too long please notify one of our tearistas rather than waiting an hour, incase your order was somehow missed.
†Update: There was an issue with the label printers today and a couple of orders didn't print so it did take a little longer before our staff picked up on that. If your order came in during that time, it would have taken longer than usual.
Our sincere apologies for that. ”

My original review:
Really disorganized. People who ordered after my friend got their drinks before her (even groups of 5+ people). My friend waited over an hour for her drinks, and there was a couple that had been waiting even longer.

I grabbed some bubble tea with my wife. I got Vanilla Velvet Oreo Frappe and she got Lotus Biscoff Frappe. We did also try their new Original Cream Cheese Bolo Bun soooooo good.

THE BUN WAS SO DELICIOUS. Give me the recipe for it please: D

Boba tastes bad, it's below average compared to the competition. Aside from the boba, the other drinks and foods such as sandwiches and milk teas are overpriced. Quite basic for the pricing.

This place deserves my first one star review. Your welcome. Have a nice day:)

Don’t understand the 1* reviews. Been here at least twice a week and service has always been quick and drinks are always exactly how I wanted. Go for the Taro Milk Tea. Best I’ve had in the city.

There’s something cool about draft tea! The flavor is consistent but that just my preference.

Good price; friendly staff, calming atmosphere however not a 5 star because Tealive doesn't offer a rewards prgram which is a must as I purchase tea and bubble teas religiously. You guys need a points system as soon as possible.

There was promo but lady said no primo when it says so right on cup buy 1 get 1 for 1st time user with app.