The Complete Drink Me Chai Latte Guide: Every Flavour Explained
Chai latte range is very versatile. There's the spiced original, a dirty chai with a shot of coffee stirred through it, a vegan version that needs nothing but hot water, and a matcha crossover that's has a distinct flavour of irs own. Drink Me Chai, Britain's leading instant chai brand, makes six different versions across a dozen pack sizes and formats, and picking the right one starts with knowing what actually separates them.
How the Six Drink Me Chai Flavours Compare
| Flavour | Milk Powder in the Tin? | Vegan? | Caffeine | Best For |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Spiced | Yes | No | Standard chai (tea-based) | The classic, most people's first chai latte |
| Vanilla | Yes | No | Standard chai (tea-based) | A smoother, less spiced alternative to Spiced |
| Artisan | No, add your own | Yes, with plant-based milk | Standard chai (tea-based) | Cafés wanting control over which milk goes in |
| Dirty Chai | Yes | No | Chai plus a real coffee shot, noticeably higher | Chai drinkers who still want caffeine |
| Vegan | No, soy protein instead | Yes, straight from the tin | Standard chai (tea-based) | Vegan or dairy-free orders with zero prep decisions |
| Matcha | Yes | No | Chai plus matcha's own caffeine | Fans of matcha wanting a spiced twist |
What Is Chai Latte, and How Is It Different From Masala Chai?
The two get used interchangeably, but they're not quite the same drink. Masala chai is a brewed spiced tea, black tea leaves steeped with cinnamon, cardamom, ginger and cloves, usually made with loose tea or tea bags and finished with milk. Tea India Masala Chai and Tea India Decaf Masala Chai are that traditional format, Rainforest Alliance certified, brewed the way tea normally is.
Chai latte, the Drink Me Chai style, is an instant powder built around the same spice profile but designed to dissolve rather than steep. Add hot water or hot milk, stir, and it's ready in under a minute, no straining, no brewing time. Same family of flavours, but different format entirely.
Where Does Drink Me Chai Come From?
The brand was founded by Amanda Hamilton after a trip through India, where she first encountered chai served the traditional way, and set out to bring something closer to that experience home. Every blend starts with a masala mix of cinnamon, cardamom, ginger, cloves and black pepper, sourced and tested before it goes anywhere near the production line. The brand packages its powders in recyclable tins rather than plastic pouches. Most of the range is gluten-free and vegetarian, though not every flavour is vegan, which is worth knowing before you pick one.
What Are the Core Drink Me Chai Flavours?
Three flavours form the base of the range, each built on the same masala foundation with its own twist rather than changing the format itself. That's what separates them from Dirty Chai, Vegan and Matcha further down, which each do something more fundamental: add coffee, remove dairy, or swap the tea base entirely.
Spiced Chai Latte is the original: black tea extract blended with cinnamon, ginger and cloves, finished with skimmed milk powder rather than needing fresh milk added. It's the one most people picture when they think "chai latte."
Vanilla Chai Latte takes the same spice base and folds in natural vanilla, coming out smoother and less intense than the original, a good pick for anyone who finds traditional chai too heavy on the clove and pepper.
Artisan Chai Latte is the professional-grade version, sold with a measuring scoop and built for café volume. Unlike Spiced and Vanilla, it has no milk powder in the tin at all, so it needs milk added when you make it, dairy or plant-based, which makes it the one flavour where the café or the customer chooses the milk rather than it being baked into the mix.
What Is Dirty Chai Latte, and How Do You Make It?
Dirty chai latte adds a genuine shot of coffee into the mix, in this case 100% Colombian microground Arabica, so you get the chai spice profile with real caffeine behind it rather than the low-caffeine tea base most chai relies on. Drink Me Chai Dirty Chai Latte combines chai spices, skimmed milk and Colombian Arabica in one tin, and like the rest of the powder range, it just needs hot water.
Worth knowing if you're watching caffeine intake: standard chai is tea-based, and tea generally carries roughly half the caffeine of coffee per serving according to the UK Tea & Infusions Association, so a dirty chai's added espresso shot puts it in a different bracket entirely. Worth knowing if you want to keep caffeine lower.
What Is Vegan Chai Latte, and How Is It Made Without Dairy?
Milk is one of the UK's 14 legally defined allergens, and it's present in the Spiced and Vanilla blends via skimmed milk powder, so those two aren't suitable for a vegan or dairy-free order as sold. Artisan Chai Latte is dairy-free in the tin, since it has no milk powder in it, but whether the finished cup is vegan depends on what you add: made with a plant-based milk, it works as a genuinely vegan chai. Vegan Chai Latte takes a different route to the same result: rather than needing a separate plant milk added, the powder itself contains soy protein, so it dissolves into a creamy drink with nothing but hot water. It's the only flavour that's vegan straight out of the tin, no milk choice required.
What Is Matcha Chai Latte?
Matcha Chai Latte sits apart from the rest of the range, pairing Japanese matcha green tea with the same warming chai spices rather than a black tea base. It's sold as a 1kg professional tin (58 servings) and prepared with hot milk rather than water, four teaspoons per 200ml mug, or built as an iced version by making a paste first and topping with cold milk and ice. It has an 18-month shelf life sealed and, like Spiced and Vanilla, contains skimmed milk powder, so it's vegetarian but not vegan. The wider Drink Me Chai collection also carries a smaller matcha option for occasional home use, if a 1kg tin is more than you need.
How Many Calories Are in a Chai Latte?
It depends on the blend and the size, but the enhanced barista recipe used in the 250g Spiced Chai Latte comes in at around 65 calories per cup as prepared, a useful reference point since chai is often assumed to be lighter than it actually is once milk powder and sugar are factored in. Calorie counts vary between flavours, so check the specific product page if it's a deciding factor.
How Do You Make a Chai Latte at Home or in a Café?
Preparation varies more across the range than you'd expect, mostly because of that milk-powder difference. Spiced, Vanilla and Dirty Chai already have milk built into the mix, so hot water alone makes a complete drink, no separate milk step needed. Artisan works the other way round: since there's no milk powder in the tin, you add your own, dairy or a plant-based alternative, to get a proper latte rather than a thin, spiced tea. Vegan Chai Latte needs nothing but hot water too, its soy protein does the creaming job the same way the built-in milk powder does for Spiced and Vanilla. Matcha Chai Latte is different again, mixed directly into hot milk rather than made as a paste first.
For cafés working at volume, the 1kg and 4kg tins are built for that pace, and the bulk chai collection gathers the catering-sized options together in one place alongside the wholesale coffee range.
Which Chai Latte Format Is Right for You?
The range comes in enough formats that the right pick depends more on how often you're drinking it than which flavour you prefer.
A 1kg or 4kg tin makes sense for a café or anyone getting through chai regularly, since the cost per cup drops at that size. A 200g or 250g tin suits occasional home drinking without committing to a large tub. The 30-pack of single-serve sachets is built for on-the-go use or an office kitchen where different people are making their own. The mixed selection box is the easiest way to try several flavours before settling on a favourite, and Dolce Gusto-compatible pods cover anyone who already owns that machine and wants chai without extra kit.
Frequently Asked Questions
What's the difference between chai latte and masala chai?
Masala chai is a brewed spiced tea, made with loose leaves or tea bags and steeped before milk is added. Chai latte, the Drink Me Chai format, is an instant powder built on the same spice profile that dissolves in hot water or milk without any brewing step.
Is Drink Me Chai vegan?
Vegan Chai Latte is vegan straight out of the tin, with soy protein replacing the need for milk. Artisan Chai Latte can also be made vegan, since it has no milk powder in it, as long as you add a plant-based milk. Spiced, Vanilla, Dirty Chai and Matcha all contain skimmed milk powder, so they're vegetarian but not vegan or dairy-free.
How much caffeine is in Dirty Chai Latte?
It carries meaningfully more than a standard chai latte, since it's made with real Colombian Arabica coffee alongside the chai spices, rather than relying on the lower caffeine content of a tea base. UK guidance puts a safe daily caffeine intake at up to 400mg for adults, with a lower 200mg limit recommended during pregnancy.
Is matcha chai latte the same as a regular matcha latte?
No. A standard matcha latte is just matcha and milk. Matcha chai latte adds the full chai spice blend, cinnamon, cardamom, ginger and cloves, on top of the matcha, so it tastes closer to a spiced green tea drink than a plain matcha.
How long does Drink Me Chai powder last?
The matcha chai latte has a confirmed 18-month shelf life when sealed. Check the individual product page for other flavours, since shelf life can vary slightly by recipe.
