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Sep 17, 2013

Review: Starbucks - Chocolate Chai Tea Latte

Starbucks' new, limited-time Chocolate Chai Tea Latte features a blend of spices, black tea, cocoa, and steamed milk.

I ordered a 12-ounce "Tall" size for $3.65.

According to the Starbucks website, these are supposed to be topped with whipped cream, but mine was not and I wasn't offered the option.

Mixing hot cocoa and chai tea together seems like a pretty offbeat combination... and it is.

My initial sip was all milky chai so I was feeling pretty good at that point. There's an enjoyable sweet, spiced tea flavor to it.

I tried to dig through the foam to get at the liquid and failed...
About the three-quarters to halfway mark, a cocoa end note started to introduce itself and it was not welcome.

The chai spices and cocoa flavor just don't mesh very well. It gets a little too busy and they don't complement each other. It's a little like drinking two different beverages at the same time... but in a bad way.

Overall, Starbucks Chocolate Chai Tea Latte was a swing and a miss in my book. The aftertaste of both black tea and cocoa was pretty distasteful and the rest just didn't fit together. This is one of those things where you think, "Oh, that doesn't sound very good" and it wasn't. You might try it just out of curiosity but I'll stick with one or the other.

Nutritional Info - Chocolate Chai Tea Latte - Tall with 2% milk (12 fl oz)
Calories - 190 (from Fat - 30)
Fat - 3.5g (Saturated Fat - 2g)
Sodium - 80mg
Carbs - 35g (Sugar - 32g)
Protein - 6g
Caffeine - 10mg