Chai tea is a fragrant and spiced drink that has some degree of popularity in most places around the world. It originated in India and has taken many shapes, from hot or cold or with any variety of added ingredients. The popularity of chai tea has led to countless brands and styles. Whether you’re a new or seasoned drinker of chai tea, here is a list of the best chai tea brands for you to explore. Our overall top pick is the classic chai tea from Tazo for its fair price point and robust flavor. Keep reading for a list of the best chai teas.
Our Top Picks
Needing a quick run-down? We’ve got you here:
  | Best Overall: Tazo Black Tea Classic Chai. The overall top pick for the best chai tea is flavorful, robust, and comes at a fair price. It’s an all-around excellent tea. |
  | Runner-Up: Stash Tea Double Spice Chai Tea. Our runner up is a double-spiced chai tea. If you love the spiciness of chai and want even more, this is a tea for you to explore. |
  | Best Eco-Friendly: Blue Lotus Traditional Masala Chai. The environment-friendly practices of Blue Lotus make it our favorite “green” choice when it comes to chai tea brands. |
  | Best Budget: Numi Organic Golden Chai. Lightly spiced and at an affordable price point, Numi’s golden chai is a good choice for those new to chai tea and not wanting to spend too much. |
  | Best Splurge: Vahdam Chai Tea Sampler. Great as a gift or for your own enjoyment, this collection of chai teas from Vahdam is a tasty option. It’s our splurge choice on the list. |
  | Best for a Sweet Tooth: Taylors of Harrogate Classic Chai Tea. Those with a sweet tooth will enjoy the lightly spiced and sweetness of this classic chai tea. Compared to a classic chai, this tea eases up on the spicy and leans sweet. |
  | Best Flavor: Bigelow Vanilla Chai Black Tea. Vanilla is a safe choice when choosing a flavor to add to your chai tea. Bigelow makes a vanilla chai tea that your taste buds will love. |
  | Best Latte: Oregon Chai Latte Concentrate. Making a chai tea latte at home has never been easier or more delicious than with the chai tea latte concentrate from Oregon Chai. |
A Closer Look: Best Chai Tea
If you want more details about the best chai teas take a look below- we’ve got everything from ingredients to customer feedback.
1. Tazo Black Tea Classic Chai
The best chai tea overall
Brand: Tazo | Caffeinated: Yes | Steep Time: Two Minutes | Spice Level: Standard | Price: 💰💰💰
You can’t go wrong with this classic chai tea from Tazo. The flavor and smell are robust. You can easily alter it by adding your favorite milk or sweetener for a creamier taste. Every tea from Tazo is now certified GMO-free, but it is not organic. The price for six boxes of tea is just under $20, making it one of the more affordable chai teas on the list. This aromatic blend of cardamom, cinnamon, pepper, and other unique spices make Tazo’s chai tea one of the most flavorful teas you’ll see here. If you like Tazo’s classic chai, they have other flavors, including chai tea latte concentrates, to try.
Reviewers Like
- The price
- Fresh and vibrant flavors after just a few minutes of steeping
- Ability to drink warm or chilled with a maintained pleasant spiciness
Reviewers Dislike
- Some reviewers experienced tea lacking flavor
- Some reviewers report receiving expired products
2. Stash Tea Double Spice Chai Tea
The best runner up chai tea
Brand: Stash | Caffeinated: Yes | Steep Time: Four Minutes | Spice Level: Double Spice | Price: 💰💰💰
The runner up for the best chai tea is this double spiced chai tea from Stash. If you prefer a little more spice than the classic chai tea, this brand might be for you. As one of the best chai tea bags, Stash makes a “guaranteed fresh” product with a robust flavor. You can get 100 tea bags for around $20. Within this chai, you’ll find a blend of black teas, allspice, cinnamon, ginger root, clove bud oil, and cardamom oil. This unique blend combined with a variety of spice oils allows Stash to create a tea that is double the spice of an average chai. This tea can be served warm or cold, and with milk or cream added.
Reviewers Like
- Caffeine level
- Perfect for a dirty chai
- 100 pack is more cost-effective if you’re a regular chai tea drinker
Reviewers Dislike
- Clove stands out over other ingredients
- No gentle heat expected with a double-spiced tea
3. Blue Lotus Traditional Masala Chai
The best eco-friendly chai tea
Brand: Blue Lotus | Caffeinated: Yes | Steep Time: No Steeping Necessary | Spice Level: Standard | Price: 💰💰💰💰
Not only does Blue Lotus offer an environmentally friendly chai tea, but they also are one of the best loose leaf chai teas out there. If choosing a loose leaf chai tea that is good for the planet is a top concern for you, Blue Lotus is a great place to start. Using a traditional black tea base, Blue Lotus adds cardamom, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and cloves to their tea to achieve the perfect level of spice. The tin of tea comes with a bamboo scoop for precise measurements when brewing your cup of chai tea. Non-GMO and organic teas are the name of the game for Blue Lotus. They maintain their ethical practices while making a delicious chai tea.
Reviewers Like
- Sustainable packaging
- Brews up to 100 cups of tea
- No added sugars or sweeteners
Reviewers Dislike
- Somewhat weak flavor profile if spices not evenly distributed
- Must shake tin well to distribute the spices evenly after shipping
4. Numi Organic Golden Chai
The best budget chai tea
Brand: Numi | Caffeinated: Half | Steep Time: Five Minutes | Spice Level: Light | Price: 💰💰
Numi delivers an excellent chai tea for a fraction of the cost of other brands. It’s an excellent place to start if you’re exploring chai tea for the first time. Numi sells their tea as Fair Trade Certified and USDA Certified Organic. They use all organic black tea, cinnamon, ginger, star anise, and cardamom to enhance the levels of spiciness within their teas. Numi also focuses heavily on its packaging. Each tea bag and it’s package are biodegradable, made from non-GMO Manilla hemp fiber. If you’re looking to try chai tea and don’t want to buy too much too fast, try out this golden chai from Numi.
Reviewers Like
- Pleasant tasting and smelling tea without bitterness
- Great for those who love a lighter spice level to their chai tea
- Sweet enough on its own, but also delicious with a little milk or honey
Reviewers Dislike
- Some reviewers experienced poor packaging
- Doesn’t possess as full of a flavor as a standard chai tea
5. Vahdam Chai Tea Sampler
The best splurge chai tea
Brand: Vahdam | Caffeinated: Multiple levels | Steep Time: Four Minutes | Spice Level: Multiple | Price: 💰💰💰💰💰
Vahdam is a household name in the realm of excellent teas. They have consistently produced teas of outstanding quality, and their chai tea is no exception. Vahdam offers a chai tea sampler that allows you to experiment with the best of chai tea in one order. This sampler set is also the perfect gift for the person you know who is a chai lover. The set comes with ten different teas, ranging from earl grey chai to double spiced. As a bonus, Vahdam is a certified plastic-free and climate-neutral company. One percent of their revenue is donated to TEAch me, focused on enhancing the education of the tea maker’s children in Assam, India.
Reviewers Like
- Ethical company
- Comes with information about each tea
- Excellent interior and exterior packaging
Reviewers Dislike
- Expensive tea compared to other brands
- Not ideal for those who like very spicy chai teas
6. Taylors of Harrogate Classic Chai Tea
The best sweet tooth chai tea
Brand: Taylor’s of Harrogate | Caffeinated: Yes | Steep Time: Five Minutes | Spice: Light | Price: 💰💰💰
Those who like their chai tea a little sweeter than standard will love Taylors of Harrogate’s classic chai tea. Their base black tea is a blend of tea leaves from Assam, India, and East Africa, providing a more diverse pallet of flavor. The tea makers at Taylors of Harrogate source their ingredients from all over the world. While a classic chai tea is commonly prepared with milk, this brand’s tea is sweet enough that it usually isn’t necessary. They’ve pledged themselves to be climate-friendly, taking progressive steps toward making their manufacturing process as green as possible. Taylors of Harrogate’s classic chai tea is perfect for those looking for a little something sweet in their chai tea.
Reviewers Like
- Each tea bag is packaged very nicely
- Affordable price for quantity and quality
- Sweet flavor that doesn’t need additives
Reviewers Dislike
- Bitter if accidentally steeped too long
- Weak string and mesh on actual tea bag
7. Bigelow Vanilla Chai Black Tea
The best Flavored chai tea
Brand: Bigelow | Caffeinated: Yes | Steep Time: Four Minutes | Spice Level: Made with Vanilla | Price: 💰💰
Maybe you’re a chai tea lover who is looking to shake up your daily chai with a little something special. If this is the case, check out this vanilla chai black tea from Bigelow. The tea comes with the same light spiciness and heat that you’d expect from a classic chai tea, but with a hint of vanilla to add sweetness.
Each package comes with a detailed explanation of brew Bigelow’s black tea for the optimal flavor and aroma. One characteristic to note is that this particular tea from Bigelow uses artificial flavoring to achieve the pleasant vanilla flavor that makes this tea one of a kind. If you’re looking to try a flavored chai tea, we highly suggest giving this one a try.
Reviewers Like
- Affordable price
- The aroma is outstanding
- No black pepper, so vanilla is very flavorful
Reviewers Dislike
- Not ideal for those wanting a spicy chai tea
- Very flavorful vanilla, less strong chai spices
8. Oregon Chai Latte Concentrate
The best chai tea latte
Brand: Oregon Chai | Caffeinated: Decaf | Steep Time: No Steep Time | Spice Level: Light | Price: 💰💰
If a chai tea latte is your go-to drink, here is a concentrate for you. You can easily have a chai tea latte in your home without the hassle of an espresso machine. Oregon Chai comes in a variety of flavors. Keep with the classic chai, or mix it up with a salted caramel chai tea latte. It goes well with steamed milk or chilled milk. Like all chai teas, black tea is at the root of Oregon Chai’s concentrate. They include cloves, cardamom, cinnamon, and ginger with hints of honey and vanilla for sweetness. The spices and sweetness lend themselves to the perfect balance that your taste buds will love.
Reviewers Like
- Easy and quick
- Fair price for the amount of product
- Great replacement for those who love Starbucks chai tea lattes
Reviewers Dislike
- Too much milk removes any spiced flavor
- Not ideal for those who don’t want sweet chai tea lattes
What Is Chai Tea?
Chai tea is a delicate balance of sweet and spicy. Traditional black tea is the base of chai tea. The addition of a variety of spices gives it an iconic flavor and aroma.
The most common rendition of chai tea you’ll find in an American supermarket tastes and smells like hints of cinnamon and cardamom. Various brands have taken their spin on chai teas. Some have added flavors like vanilla, while others have doubled the amount of spice in their product. Exploring different kinds of chai tea can help you determine what you like best.
In Hindi, “chai” means “tea.” The version of chai tea regularly consumed in America today is how tea is traditionally served in India. It’s typically brewed with milk and sweetened with sugar or honey. Because of the wide array of spices chai teas have, they were originally thought to have healing properties for the body and mind. As the drink gained popularity, people began playing with the kinds and quantities of spices in the drink, establishing the variety of chai teas seen today.
Throughout India, the kind of spices in their chai tea will vary depending on where geographically it is made. However, chai teas are typically spiced with cardamom, ginger, cloves, cinnamon, and black peppercorns. Western countries added bay leaves, nutmeg, star anise, fennel, allspice, and saffron to enhance the drink further.
Chai tea is a sweet, spicy, and tasty drink that can be consumed warm or chilled. With this list of the best chai tea brands, you’ll find one that tastes amazing to you.
Our Process
For this guide on Chai Teas, our team spent 3 hours researching the most popular options from over 20 brands and manufacturers big and small. We then read about thirty user reviews (both positive and negative) per brand to discover what shoppers thought about each chai tea. After comparing this data, we narrowed our list down to the top 8 on the market. You can count on this research to guide you to a mindful purchasing decision.
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Further Reading
