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Looking for the best comforting cup of chai? We've found it!
We tried and tested 12 chai tea's to find the perfectly spiced brew.
A truly warming spiced chai tea is perfect for this time of year and will always have a black tea base with added spices like cinnamon, clove, cardamom and ginger just to name a few. We tried and tested 12 chai tea’s, from Pukka to Morrisons – see what our favourite was below.
For our test, we spoke to Angela Pryce, tea and coffee buyer for Fortnum & Mason who shared a few tips and tricks for the best way to taste tea. She recommends first trying the tea black to pick up any top notes and spices, and then after, adding sugar or milk according to taste. We noticed some chai’s benefited from milk alone, while others were perfect on their own or with milk added. Why not try it at home for yourself? You might be surprised at what flavours you pick up!
Teapigs Chai Tea
Overall Score: 85/100
Our winning chai tea is the perfect cup with its golden amber glow and its warming cinnamon, ginger, clove and cardamom spiced aroma. Testers agreed the cinnamon and cloves were the front runners, having a balanced and smooth taste. Even with milk added, the spices stood up against the creaminess for an indulgently spiced tea.
BUY NOW Ocado, £3.99 for 15 teabags
Morrisons The Best 100 Chai Tea Bags
Overall Score: 81/100
Deep, golden amber with a rich and warming spiced aroma from the clove and cinnamon. Testers enjoyed the spiced ginger flavour, whilst others thought it was a little too subtle with a slightly bitter taste.
BUY NOW Morrisons, £2.88 for 100 bags
Pure Leaf Chai Tea
Overall Score: 77/100
Subtle in flavour, our testers found this chai to be gently spiced with cinnamon and ginger aromas. We picked up flavours such as black tea and ginger which gives a nice warming kick but overall found it lacked a strong spiced profile. The addition of milk made it smoother whilst also helping to bring out the spices a bit more.
BUY NOW Ocado, £3.99 for 16 teabags
Asda Chai Spiced Black Tea
Overall Score: 77/100
Strongly spiced aroma with hints of cinnamon, clove and cardamom. Some testers enjoyed the spiced flavour, whilst others found the cloves dominated the overall taste, lacking dimension and complexity. We also found the texture to be quite drying on the tongue.
BUY NOW Asda, £0.89 for 50 bags
Co-op Irresistible 50 Chai Fairtrade Tea Bags
Overall Score: 75/100
A strong and warming clove and ginger aroma left our testers divided, with some finding it too subtle and unbalanced, whilst others found it authentically warming from the cloves. With a hint of bitterness, the spices were muted and weak. While the consistency is smooth it is a little bit drying.
In store only Co-Op, £1.70 for 50 teabags
Twinings Spicy Chai
Overall Score: 73/100
Rich and deep in colour with a spicy, almost floral sweet note to it. Strong clove, star anise and cardamom gave the aroma its heady smell. We definitely enjoyed the warming, spicy kick from the cinnamon and ginger, but some testers found it to be slightly bitter. The addition of milk helped to alleviate the bitterness and balanced out the rich spices to give it a smooth, enjoyable brew.
BUY NOWTwinings, £2.99 for 50 teabags
Tesco Finest Chai Tea
Overall Score: 69/100
Generally quite mild in aroma, testers picked up clove and hints of cinnamon. The strong black tea flavour found in this chai is enjoyable, but we agree the spices are too mild against the bitter black tea, making for an unbalanced taste.
BUY NOW Tesco, £1.50 for 50 teabags
M&S Chai teabags
Overall Score: 69/100
Clear and bright orange, this cinnamon and clove spiced tea was a bit too weak in aroma for our testers. Although we enjoyed the flavour of the black tea itself, the lack of strong spices made for a mediocre brew.
BUY NOW M&S, £1.80 for 50 teabags
(Check availability in-store)
M&S Spiced Chai Infusion
Overall Score: 69/100
This tea has floral and herbal notes from the cassia and liquorice roots but testers felt it was too mild in aroma. The overall flavour is pleasant with a gentle heat from the spices but the floral notes overpowered, making it unbalanced in flavour.
In-store only M&S, £1.80 for 15 teabags
We also tried...
Cartwright & Butler Chai Tea 67/100, 15 teabags for £6.99
Pukka Original Chai 59/100, 20 teabags for £2.49
Mel is the Senior Food & Drink Writer for Good Housekeeping UK, covering all the delicious new product launches that come her way, writing about food and drink topics, and curating gift guides for the best foodie products to buy. Alongside that, she can be found developing and creating cocktails for GH and holds her WSET Level 2 in Wine and Spirits. She was part of the Good Housekeeping Institute food testing team for over four years before moving over to the digital side, so knows a thing or two about great food products. You'll find her scouring the supermarket shelves in her spare time for new and exciting ingredients to experiment with in her kitchen.
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