What is a Dirty Chai?

A dirty chai is a chai latte with a shot of espresso added. The spiced tea and the espresso create something neither one is on its own: warm, aromatic, caffeinated, and more interesting than either drink alone.

Caffeine content: roughly 95 to 135mg, combining 63mg from the espresso shot with 30 to 70mg from the chai tea depending on the blend and steeping.

The dirty chai is one of the fastest-growing specialty menu items in North America

In cities with dense specialty cafe scenes, it is appearing on menus that previously had no chai presence at all. In New York and Los Angeles, it has become a standard order at independent cafes. Of the 364,333 independent shops in the Pulled Coffee database, a growing percentage carry chai concentrate alongside their espresso program.

"A dirty chai sits between the coffee world and the tea world. It is the most democratic drink on the specialty menu."

Chai latte vs dirty chai: one has espresso

A regular chai latte is steamed milk plus chai concentrate, no espresso. A dirty chai adds one shot. A double dirty chai adds two. The espresso rounds out the sweetness of the chai and adds a coffee depth that the spices alone cannot create. Read more on what is a chai latte.

How to order one well

The quality depends heavily on the chai concentrate. Mass-market chai syrup is very sweet and one-dimensional. Real chai made from whole spices (cardamom, ginger, cinnamon, clove, black pepper) with a strong Assam tea base creates a completely different drink. Ask what chai the shop uses. If they make their own, order the dirty chai. Try shops like Blue Bottle or specialty cafes in Portland and Denver.

Related: What is a chai latte?, 12 best espresso drinks, Matcha latte vs coffee.