Personally, I like to switch to tea in the middle of the day. Sure beats the daily expensive trip to Starbucks! A chai latte is just the end result when you combine your chai concentrate with frothed or heated milk.
Chai concentrate is just what you think, a concentrated chai tea mix that can be used for making multiple batches of your favorite chai beverage. Or, of course, you may have purchased a Classic Chai Tea Latte at your local Starbucks. If you experimented with chai before you may have noticed that it can be bought as a concentrate, a powder mix, or in loose leaf form. Many people even find they can have evening tea without disturbing their sleep, while, if you’re like me, if you drink coffee too late in the day you might find yourself climbing the walls at night! Perhaps the presence of tannin in both wine and tea are a big reason why both of these drinks are commonly associated with relaxation. You might be more familiar with tannins associated with wine. So we avoid that “caffeine jolt” which so many of us rely on in the morning, but not without side effects like jitters and the occasional “coffee rage”. This is because tea contains something called tannin which causes the caffeine to be absorbed more slowly into our systems. But, it’s also worth noting that the caffeine in tea doesn’t seem to interact and have the same effect on our bodies as does the caffeine in coffee. Chai Tea can also be made with Rooibos, a caffeine-free variety of tea. Levels of caffeine in green tea are even lower and although it was originally thought that the health benefits of green tea were even greater, it’s now commonly believed that black and green tea share similar health benefits. Black tea has roughly 1/3 the amount of caffeine you’ll find in coffee. Typically yes, but the levels of caffeine found in the average cup of chai tea are substantially lower then the levels of caffeine found in the average cup of coffee. And you’ll often hear people talk of “black chai tea” because chai tea and chai lattes are most often made with black tea, although in can be made with green tea or in other forms. The ingredients in chai are usually tea leaves boiled with cardamom, milk in sugar. And why we’re super excited to share with you are homemade chai tea recipe! So what is Chai?Ĭhai simply translates to tea in India, but in the Western world chai is thought of as a particular type of tea that hails from India. When you add together the cinnamon health benefits, the benefits of cardamom, and all the existing benefits of tea then it’s easy to see that the why we’re excited about the health benefits of replacing coffee with chai tea or a homemade chai latte. Cinnamon health benefits include improved circulation, increased awareness, and a reduction in fatigue. Cardamom has been shown to elevate your mood and is believed to benefit the heart, lungs, and kidney. In addition to this, the spices commonly found in chai tea have also been shown to provide great benefits. Tea is high in antioxidants, which have been shown to have numerous health benefits. All these things and more certainly apply to Chai Tea. Unless told otherwise - assume that your Chai DOES contain caffeine.In our mint sun tea post we talked about some of the health benefits of tea and why you might want to consider replacing some of your coffee consumption with tea consumption. Most other outlets (such as Starbucks) make their Chai Latte drinks from a Chai concentrate (that contains brewed tea, and is therefore caffeinated), and is in ther range of 25-60 mg caffeine. However the drink is not truly chai, but rather a flavored milk. Some outlets sell a chai latte that is simply a chai flavored syrup mixed with steamed milk.
Here are how some brands compare caffeine-wise per 8 fl oz serving: Just like with all black tea based beverages, chai tea can also vary in caffeine content due to differences in the caffeine levels of the black tea used. There are many different types of chai tea and some are even caffeine-free, but traditionally chai tea has black tea as its base ingredient so most will contain some level of caffeine.
The caffeine amount listed above reflects the average amount one would expect from a cup of chai tea. This type of tea originates in India and is also called Masala chai. Chai tea is a popular hot beverage which is traditionally black tea blended with spices, milk, and sugar.