Is Chai Tea Keto? How to Order a Keto Starbucks Chai Latte
/Chai tea lattes and iced chai drinks are popular drinks at Starbucks and other coffee places. If you follow a low-carb diet you might wonder, as I did, “is chai tea keto?” Or “how many carbs does a chai latte have?” I decided to do some research.
Chai tea, meaning black tea combined with warming spices such as cardamom, cinnamon, ginger, and black pepper, and brewed with only water is keto-friendly Chai tea contains 0 carbs. However, a chai tea latte is a combination of chai tea with sugar and milk and is not keto-friendly. A 12-ounce chai tea latte from Starbucks has 34 grams of carbs.
Don't be discouraged if you love chai as much as I do and want to make it a part of your keto eating plan. I'll share simple tweaks to order a perfectly-keto chai latte, the health benefits of chai tea, and how to make your own delicious chai at home.
Table of Contents:
What is chai tea? Definitions.
Is chai tea keto-friendly?
Is a chai tea latte keto-friendly? How many carbs are in a chai tea latte at Starbucks and other coffee chains?
Is an iced chai tea latte keto-friendly? How many carbs are in an iced chai tea latte at Starbucks and other coffeehouses?
How to order a keto chai tea latte at Starbucks.
Is chai tea healthy?
This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, see my disclosures here.
What is chai tea?
It’s important to get our definitions right when discussing chai tea.
The word “chai” means tea.
In India, the word "chai" simply means "tea." Since most Indians drink black tea combined with spices, sugar, and milk, the term "chai tea" has become synonymous with "milk tea" or what we think of as a chai latte.
When I talk about “chai tea” in this post I am referring only to black tea mixed with warming spices like ginger, cinnamon, cardamon, and black pepper. Simply brewed tea with no added sweetener or milk.
A chai latte is tea, spices, sweetener, and milk.
In the United States and the western world, "chai tea" or a "chai tea latte" has come to mean the delicious, creamy, sweet, and spicy drink that was created in India.
In its traditional form, a chai latte has 4 key ingredients:
black tea
ground spices, usually black pepper, cinnamon, cardamom, ginger, star anise, and cloves
milk, whole milk is traditional
sweetener, usually sugar
Now that you know the difference between chai tea and a chai tea latte, let’s explore which of these are keto-friendly.
“A chai latte is a combination of tea, spices, milk, and sugar. Most coffee places in the U.S. prepare chai lattes by mixing equal parts sweetened chai concentrate with either whole, skim, or 2% milk.”
Is Chai tea keto-friendly?
In its purest form, chai tea, meaning black tea combined with warming spices like cinnamon, ginger, cardamom, and black pepper, and brewed with hot water, is keto-friendly.
How many carbs are in chai tea?
An 8-ounce serving of brewed chai has 0 grams of carbs and can be a part of a keto or low-carb diet.
Unsweetened chai tea is available in different forms.
spiced chai powder (I use the Blue Lotus brand chai powder which dissolves instantly in hot water. It is made with organic spices, no additives, sweeteners, or fillers, and I can’t recommend it highly enough. Click to see Blue Lotus Chai on Amazon.)
These types of unsweetened chai all have 0 carbs and 0 calories.
Unsweetened chai tea is best for keto eaters because you can drink chai plain (without milk or sweeteners), or control the amount and type of sweeteners and/or milk you add.
I use the Blue Lotus chai powder to make my keto-friendly lattes.
Chai tea concentrates.
Most chai tea concentrates are sweetened black tea and spices. You add one part concentrate to one part milk (or water) to create your chai drink.
While Starbucks and many other popular coffee places use sweetened chai concentrate, you can find unsweetened chai concentrates on the market. You may not find them at your local grocery store, but they are all available on Amazon.
You will see popular chai concentrate brands and their carb counts in the table below:
| CHAI TEA CONCENTRATE CARB COMPARISON | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Brand Name |
Grams Net Carbs |
Serving Size |
Sweetener |
| Bhakti Fair Trade Original Chai Concentrate |
15 |
½ cup |
cane sugar |
| Bhakti Fair Trade Unsweetened Chai Concentrate |
2 |
½ cup |
none |
| Oregon Chai Original Chai Tea Latte Concentrate |
31 |
¾ cup |
cane sugar, honey |
| Oregon Chai Sugar-Free Latte Concentrate |
0 |
¾ cup |
sucralose |
| Rishi Tea Masala Chai Concentrate |
19 |
½ cup |
cane juice, molasses |
| Tazo Organic Chai Latte Concentrate |
16 |
½ cup |
cane sugar, honey |
| Tazo Skinny Chai Concentrate |
14 |
¾ |
cane sugar |
| The Chai Company Rooibos Concentrate |
19 |
2.5 oz |
cane sugar, molasses |
Is a Chai tea latte keto-friendly?
Chai tea lattes from Starbucks or other popular coffee chains are NOT keto-friendly. A Starbucks 12-ounce “tall” chai tea latte has 34 grams of carbs. Other popular coffeehouses have similar-sized chai tea lattes ranging from 24 to 41 grams of carbs per serving and, unfortunately, are not part of a keto diet.
Chai lattes are high in carbs because they are made with sweetened chai concentrate.
Almost all coffeehouses use a sweetened chai concentrate that is a mixture of black tea, warming spices like cloves, ginger, cinnamon, cardamom, and black pepper, and sweetener, usually sugar, sometimes with honey or molasses. (Starbucks uses the Tazo brand of chai concentrate.)
Chai lattes made with sweetened chai concentrate can’t be made without sugar or with a keto-approved zero-carb sweetener.
Chai lattes are high in carbs because they are made with milk.
A typical coffeehouse chai latte, like Starbucks, is made by combining equal parts sweetened chai concentrate and milk. Starbucks uses 2% milk as its standard, but you can substitute skim, whole milk, or plant-based milks like almond, soy, or coconut milk.
Unfortunately, modifying the type of milk in your chai latte won’t reduce the carb count enough to make a standard coffeehouse chai latte keto-friendly.
Even substituting cream, which is a keto-friendly food, won’t make a chai latte low-carb because it already contains sugar in the chai concentrate.
The table below shows the carb counts for a tall (12-ounce) chai latte at Starbucks using different types of milk. As you can see, changing the milk makes little difference in the carb count.
| Starbucks Tall Chai Tea Lattes | |
|---|---|
| Type of Milk | Grams Net Carbs |
| Whole Milk |
34 |
| 2% Milk |
34 |
| Skim (Nonfat) Milk |
34 |
| Soy Milk |
31 |
| Coconut Milk |
31 |
How many carbs are in a chai tea latte from Starbucks and other popular coffee chains?
Standard chai lattes from Starbucks and other popular coffee chains like Caribou Coffee, Peet’s, and Dunkin Donuts have similar carb counts (between 24-41 carbs for servings ranging from 10-12 ounces).
You can see a breakdown of carb counts in the table below:
| Carb Counts for Coffeehouse Chai Tea Lattes | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Brand Name |
Grams Net Carbs |
Serving Size |
Milk |
| Caribou Coffee Chai Tea Latte |
33 |
Small |
2% milk |
| Dunkin Donuts Chai Latte |
41 |
Medium |
Whole milk |
| Peet’s Chai Tea Latte |
30 |
Small |
2% milk |
| Starbucks Chai Tea Latte |
34 |
Tall |
2% milk |
Is an iced chai tea latte keto-friendly?
Iced chai tea, prepared from standard chai tea concentrate and mixed with whole, skim, or 2% milk, is not keto friendly. The carb count for standard iced chais from popular U.S. coffee house chains range from 24 to 41 grams per serving.
The reason iced chai tea lattes are not suitable for a keto diet is the exact same reason hot chai lattes are not - because they are made with sweetened chai concentrate and milk.
How many carbs are in an iced chai latte from Starbucks or other coffee chains?
This table shows carb counts for iced chai lattes from Starbucks, Caribou Coffee, Peet’s, and Dunkin Donuts.
| Carb Counts for Iced Chai Tea Lattes | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Brand Name |
Grams Net Carbs |
Serving Size |
Milk |
| Caribou Coffee Iced Chai Tea Latte |
30 |
Small |
2% milk |
| Dunkin Donuts Iced Chai Latte |
41 |
Medium |
Whole milk |
| Peet’s Iced Chai Tea Latte |
24 |
Small |
2% milk |
| Starbucks Iced Chai Tea Latte |
33 |
Tall |
2% milk |
| Starbucks Chai Crème Frappuccino |
30 |
Tall |
Whole milk |
How to order a keto chai latte at Starbucks.
A 12 ounce (tall) chai latte at Starbucks, without customization, is made with sweetened chai tea concentrate and steamed 2% milk. It has 34 grams net carbs and is definitely not part of a keto diet.
However, there is a workaround to order a keto drink that tastes just like a chai latte.
Start your Starbucks keto chai latte order with a brewed chai tea:
Order a tall brewed chai made with two tea bags (or your choice of size, and increase the standard amount of tea bags by one to make the tea stronger) (0 carbs)
2 pumps sugar-free cinnamon dolce syrup (to enhance the cinnamon flavor) (0 carbs)
Add an extra splash of heavy cream (2 grams carbs)
2 packets Whole Earth Stevia plus Monkfruit zero-carb sweetener (or to taste) (0 carbs)
A sprinkle of cinnamon powder on top (0 carbs)
A keto “chai tea” like this is only about 2-4 grams of carbs. (Nutrition facts are rounded up or down - there are trace carbs in the tea, sweetener, cinnamon powder, etc.)
Starbucks whipped cream is sweetened, so adding whipped cream to a tall drink is an additional 2 grams of carbs. It’s not a deal-breaker if you love whipped cream, but be aware of the carbs.
Does the brewed keto chai latte taste like the standard Starbucks chai latte??
I haven’t had an actually Starbucks chai latte in along time because I do avoid sugary drinks. So, as you can see from the photo above, I ordered a standard chai latte and my keto version at the same time for a taste test.
The original Starbucks Chai Latte:
It is not very sweet.
It is milky, but not really creamy, probably because it is made with 2% milk
It has a very mild chai flavor. In my opinion, you get a hint of black tea, cinnamon and cloves, but not really the spiciness of black pepper.
The brewed keto chai latte:
Was sweeter than the original, but not much.
Was creamy and rich, probably from the heavy cream.
Had a very mild chai flavor, but I felt it was stronger than the original Starbucks chai latte.
Neither of these drinks was as sweet as I like, or as spicy as I like my chai lattes. Before going keto I grabbed chai lattes at a local coffeehouse and their chai lattes are almost like a decadent dessert drink. That’s how I like my chai!
These two lattes tasted almost identical, but I honestly preferred the brewed keto latte.
For more info on how to eat keto at restaurants, see my Keto Restaurant Guides.
Is chai tea healthy?
Many of the ingredients in chai tea have health benefits so, if your chai latte isn't loaded up with sugar, it can be considered a healthy drink. I enjoy a keto chai latte always every day as an afternoon snack!
Black tea
may help lower blood cholesterol
has been shown to prevent weight gain and belly fat
may reduce the risk of stroke
may boost heart health
may reduce the risk of some cancers
Cinnamon
may lower blood pressure
can reduce overall cholesterol, as well as LDL (bad) cholesterol and triglycerides
may reduce insulin resistance
has antibacterial properties that can help prevent digestive problems
Ginger
can help reduce blood sugar levels in Type 2 diabetics
has anti-nausea effects
supports the immune system
may reduce pain and inflammation
Cloves
can protect the stomach lining from ulcers
contain antioxidants
can reduce inflammation
may reduce the risk of developing diabetes, heart disease, and some cancers
Cardamom
may lower blood pressure
may protect from chronic diseases due to its anti-inflammatory effects
may treat digestive problems, including ulcers
may contain cancer-fighting compounds
Black pepper
has anti-inflammatory properties
may improve blood sugar control
may have cancer-fighting properties
is high in antioxidants
may increase the digestive enzymes used to break down food
Including a wide variety of plant foods, like black tea and spices, in your keto diet is a GOOD thing. See: How to Eat More Veggies on a Keto Diet and Free Printable “Eat the Rainbow” Food Tracker
I hope this helped answer the question “is a chai tea latte keto?” and empower you with a bit of keto knowledge to order your own keto chai tea drink. Happy spicy sipping!
—The Keto Minimalist
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