Tazo chai is a spiced tea that is available as regular or decaffeinated filterbag tea. Tazo is part of the Starbucks Coffee Company. Tazo styles its chai to resemble the tea favored by the hill-dwelling people of the Himalayas. Traditionally, chai is served with milk and a sweetener. While there are few nutrients in Tazo chai, the tea contains beneficial antioxidants. Plus, you can gain calories, fat, carbohydrates, protein and vitamins if you serve the tea in the traditional manner.
Tazo Chai Ingredients
Tazo chai contains black tea, ginger, cinnamon, black pepper, cardamom, cloves and star anise. The ingredients in decaffeinated Tazo chai are decaffeinated black tea, rooibos, cinnamon, ginger, cardamom, chicory, cloves, black pepper, star anise and other natural flavors.
Nutritional Overview
Tazo chai and decaffeinated Tazo chai are not significant sources of calories, fat, carbohydrates, protein or vitamins. However, if you prepare chai the traditional way, with milk and a sweetener, you will add nutrients to the tea. An 8 oz. Tazo chai tea latte made with nonfat milk has 100 calories, 22 g of carbohydrates and 4 g of protein. A latte made with whole milk has 130 calories, 3.5 g of fat, 22 g carbohydrates and 4 g of protein. If you use soy milk, the latte contains 120 calories, 1.5 g of fat, 23 g of carbohydrates and 3 g of protein. Tazo chai tea lattes contain a small amount of sodium, 10 to 15 percent of the recommended daily value for calcium, about 4 percent of the daily value for vitamin A and up to 2 percent of the recommended daily value for iron.
Caffeine
An 8 oz. Tazo chai tea latte at Starbucks contains 50 mg of caffeine. The 16 oz. Tazo chai tea latte has twice the amount of caffeine or 100 mg. The decaffeinated tea contains essentially no caffeine. According to Tazo, you can decaffeinate tea yourself by steeping tea in boiling water for 45 seconds, discarding the liquid and steeping the tea again to make your drink. Most of the flavor of the tea will be retained, but the amount of caffeine in the tea will be reduced by about 95 percent.
Potential Health Benefits
The tea and spices found in Tazo chai may confer some health benefits. The Tea Association of the United States of America states that the antioxidant flavonoids in tea may help reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease and cancer. Other compounds in tea are associated with improved bone and oral health and healthy immune system function.
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