Many people prefer Chai lattes, indeed, they are delicious. On the other hand, coffee drinkers treat it as one of the best coffee alternatives to limit their daily caffeine intake.
However, do you know Chai is also caffeinated since the main ingredient is black tea? Have you heard of the dirty chai latte, which is probably stronger than many coffee drinks?
After reading this guide, you’ll know how much caffeine is in a chai latte so that you can consume it in moderation.
What Is Chai?
Chai tea incorporates black tea leaves, various warm herbs and spices, such as nutmeg, and sugar for a sweet and pleasing aroma with a spicy, earthy taste. Drinkers love to add honey to enhance its overall flavors.
There are wide varieties of chai tea with the most popular being Masala chai. This type infuses chai tea leaves with spices from India, including cardamom, cloves, star anise, and others. People from India stand by Masala tea as a way to increase immunity, especially during the cold season.
Studies have shown that drinking a few cups of black tea, like chai, daily for a few months can encourage a healthy weight loss regimen. Of course, you will want to utilize natural sweeteners such as honey instead of granulated sugar to reduce caloric intake.
Regularly drinking black tea, such as chai, can lower blood pressure and reduce blood sugar levels. The cinnamon in chai tea has caused a 24% reduction in blood sugar levels for participants in one study. Hence, drinking chai tea often can keep you in good health because it decreases stress levels and calms your nerves which means it positively affects your nervous system.
Chai Tea Latte Vs. Dirty Chai Latte
Does a chai latte have caffeine? Yes, it does, whether from the chai black tea bag or if there is coffee or espresso incorporated for a dirty chai latte variety.
Caffe latte is espresso mixed with milk, while Latte Chai is chai tea mixed with a splash of steamed milk and milk foam at the top to finish it off. A regular version has less caffeine than a chai dirty.
Dirty chai latte is one of the popular beverages at local coffee shops, which is supposed to be a mix of a standard latte with a chai tea latte. A dirty chai latte adds a splash of coffee or one or two shots of espresso for a richer flavor. Hence, this beverage is higher in caffeine than its non-coffee cousin.
How Much Caffeine Is in A Chai Latte?
The USDA states that a cup of various types of black tea, like chai, is about 48 milligrams of caffeine. However, caffeine levels can vary based on the brewing process.
If you make Chai tea latte at home, check the nutrition facts label on your tea bag box or chai mix for more information on the caffeine content you will consume per cup of chai tea latte.
How Much Caffeine Is in Starbucks Chai Latte?
Starbucks chai latte contains warm spices such as black pepper, cinnamon, cardamom, cloves, star anise, and ginger. It also incorporates sugar, ginger juice, vanilla, honey, citric acid, and other natural flavors to enhance the overall taste. The drink contains 2% milk as well as milk foam.
An eight-ounce Starbucks chai latte contains 50 milligrams of caffeine. Of course, as you increase the size of your chai latte, you will intake more caffeine. A tall chai latte (12 ounces) boosts caffeine content to 70 mg. A 16-ounce grande chai latte contains 95 mg of caffeine, exactly as much caffeine as an eight-ounce cup of coffee. Finally, a 20-ounce venti chai latte has 120 mg of caffeine.
Starbucks utilizes the Tazo-brand concentrate that influences the overall caffeine content in their chai tea latte. Baristas at the coffee shop chain utilize less water. Hence, Starbucks sells stronger chai tea lattes than the Tazo chai sold at local grocery stores.
The cup size determines how many chai syrup pumps go into the hot beverage. An eight-ounce drink gets two pumps, while the tall version receives three concentrated pumps of chai.
Grandes get four pumps of chai, and ventis receive five concentrated chai black tea concentrate syrup pumps. Drinking the venti size means consuming more caffeine than a cup of coffee.
Dirty Chai Latte Caffeine Content
Dirty chai lattes are the more highly caffeinated drinks of the two. This type of latte adds espresso as a single shot or two. People usually prefer at least one shot of espresso. If the drinker prefers more espresso shots, it can take a chai tea latte to the caffeine levels of a standard cup of coffee.
A shot of espresso contains 64 mg of caffeine. Since chai tea has 48 mg of caffeine, meshing the two together means that a dirty chai latte has about 112 mg.
Is Chai More Caffeinated Than Coffee?
Chai tea has less caffeine than coffee. Because there are about 48 milligrams of caffeine in an average cup of chai tea, this is about half of the caffeine in one cup of coffee, which is 95 mg. Hence, you can have two of your favorite chai tea latte drinks to intake the same amount of caffeine as a cup of coffee.
Are Chai Latte Spices Stimulating?
Chai tea’s spices influence overall digestive functions, which is why it is a natural weight-loss aid. Cinnamon reduces insulin resistance by the enhanced manner it uses glucose when digesting in your body. Nutmeg keeps blood sugar levels at bay. Cardamom aids in eliminating nausea and ulcers from developing in your body.
Final Thoughts
So now you know the chai latte caffeine content. This beverage has approximately 48 mg of caffeine for every eight ounces. Adding steamed milk, sugar, honey, and other ingredients increases the beverage’s caloric density and does not contribute to caffeine content.
Overall, if you are controlling your daily caffeine intake, the Chai latte is a good coffee alternative with lower caffeine content but still boosts you up.
