Does a Chai Latte Have Caffeine? Yes, 46 to 60 mg a Cup

Your chai latte has caffeine, because it is black tea. Tazo's own guide puts a serving of its Classic Chai Latte at 46 to 60 mg, and a cup of coffee is about 95 mg, so you are drinking roughly half a coffee.

How much you get depends on how your chai was made. Tea bags, a bottle of concentrate, a powder, or the cafe counter: you land somewhere different with each, and one kind gives you no caffeine at all. Here is what you get from each, and what a dirty chai adds.

How much caffeine is in your chai latte?

You get between about 30 and 60 mg in a standard cup. A coffee gives you 95. A rooibos chai gives you none.

Why you get about half a coffee is simple. Tea leaf has more caffeine than coffee bean, gram for gram, but your cup of chai uses far less tea than your cup of coffee uses coffee, and then you cut it with milk.

Why does it depend on how your chai was made?

Because "chai latte" covers four different drinks that share a flavour, and you are only ever drinking one of them.

If you steep tea bags yourself, you control the number. Leave one bag in longer and you pull more caffeine. Use two bags and you get about double. The milk you add thins the cup but not the total. ^[1] If you buy a bottle of concentrate, you are buying what most cafes use, and Tazo is the one brand that prints you a caffeine guide. ^[2]

Chai latte vs coffee: which has more?

Coffee, by about double. You get about 95 mg from an 8 oz cup of brewed coffee and 47 mg from brewed black tea, by USDA's numbers; the concentrate band sits where the tea does. ^{[1] [2]}

Order a large and you close the gap. A 16 oz chai is two servings of concentrate, which puts you near 100 mg, about where one cup of coffee started. Your cup size matters more than your drink.

What is a dirty chai, and how much does it add?

A dirty chai is your chai latte with a shot of espresso in it, and the shot adds about 63 mg, USDA's figure for a 1 oz shot. So you land around 110 to 125 mg, which is more than a cup of drip coffee, not less. ^[1] Tazo's bottled espresso chai sits in its top band, 61 mg or more, which tells you the same thing. ^[2]

If you want the espresso taste without the full load, ask for a decaf shot. You still get the chai's 46 to 60 mg.

Will a chai latte keep you awake?

It can, if you drink it late. Half a coffee is still caffeine, and a large cup is a whole coffee. Health Canada and the FDA put your daily ceiling at 400 mg, so one chai sits well inside that; your question is timing, not total. ^{[4] [5]}

For an evening chai, order rooibos. You keep the cinnamon, cardamom and ginger and you drop the caffeine to zero. ^[3]

Which chai has no caffeine?

Rooibos chai. Oregon Chai makes a caffeine-free concentrate that swaps the black tea for rooibos, a South African herbal tea with no caffeine, and keeps the spices you want. ^[3] Decaf black tea chai is your other route: USDA puts decaf brewed black tea at about 1 mg per 100 g, so you get a few milligrams a cup.

Check your label, because most chai concentrates do not print a caffeine number at all. If you see "black tea" in the ingredients and no caffeine-free claim, assume you are in the 46 to 60 mg band.

What to do

• Want about half a coffee? Order a regular chai latte, 8 to 12 oz.
• Want a coffee's worth? A large chai or a dirty chai gets you there.
• Want none? Ask for rooibos chai, or make it at home with a decaf black tea.
• Making it from tea bags? Two bags, steeped five minutes, gives you about a brewed cup's worth before the milk; one bag, three minutes, gives you less.
• Watching sugar rather than caffeine? Read the concentrate label. Cane sugar and honey sit near the top of the list on the leading brands.

The short version

Yes, your chai latte has caffeine: you get 46 to 60 mg a serving by Tazo's guide, about 47 mg in a cup of brewed black tea by USDA, roughly half a 95 mg coffee. A dirty chai adds a 63 mg shot and passes coffee. Rooibos chai gives you none.