Chai Green Tea Ingredients

Chai Green Tea blends two types of tea together. Chai is an East Indian tea made with a base of black tea and strong aromatic spices while green tea is a mild tea full of antioxidants. Chai green tea blends are available from many tea companies in both organic and non-organic options and are enjoyable hot or cold.

Green and Black Teas

The plant camellia sinensis provides the leaves that make green tea. The leaves once picked, are steamed to make the light flavored tea. Green tea contains several antioxidants like EGCG and polyphenol oxidase that are thought to fight free radicals. Green tea is also low in calories. Since green tea is a mild tasting tea other flavorings can be added like chai spice to change the taste.

Black tea, also made from the camellia sinensis leaves, is made by steaming, then roasting tea leaves giving it a stronger tea flavor. Black tea provides many of the same benefits as green tea like lowering blood pressure. Both green and black teas are considered diuretics and increase the frequency of urination which aids in detoxification of the kidneys and liver.

Chai Spices

Chai tea is a black tea blend originating from India. Since the flavors from this region of the world strong, sweet and pungent, chai tea is normally blended with milk and sweetened with honey or sugar. The spices categorized under the chai spice name are cinnamon, allspice, clove, cardamom and nutmeg. In addition to each providing distinctive flavors, all of these spices provide certain health benefits.

Cinnamon, made from the bark of the cinnamon tree, is a slightly sweet and strong spice that contains a high amount of manganese along with essential oils with several purported health benefits. Cinnamon also has anti-microbial properties to aid in fighting infections and lowers blood sugars with its ability to slow down digestion.

The smell of allspice seems it should contain several spices when it actually is only one made from the pimenta dioica variety of the evergreen. Allspice tastes of cinnamon, cloves and ginger. Allspice is blood cleanser and digestive aid.
Clove, which is a tropical evergreen seed, has been used in cooking and medicinally for centuries. Cloves contain a blood thinning oil that reduces blood pressure and improves heart health.

Cardamom, a member of the ginger root family, is a seed from the tropical plant elettaria cardamomum. Cardamom comes in several varieties from green to black to white, each with a distinctly different flavor. Nutmeg comes from the myristica fragrans tree and is considered a variety of nut. Ground to a powder, nutmeg is a sweet spice that is also added to curries. Nutmeg's medicinally properties include increasing appetite and reducing nausea.

Ginger

Ginger's use in Asian healing as an anti-inflammatory and digestive aid is well-documented. A natural stomach aid, ginger's strong astringent flavor compliments the bitter strong flavors of nutmeg and clove. Ginger soothes the stomach which can irritate sensitive individuals when ingesting chai spices. Ginger also compliments the green tea in reducing blood pressure by thinning the blood.