Okay, coffee lovers, you might need to brace yourself for this! This news might be so stimulating and yet so objectionable that it will wake you up faster than your morning cup of coffee. You may not need another cup of coffee or your daily shot of espresso for another few hours because, ready for this? I don’t like coffee! I remember sitting among friends in high school, brainstorming part-time job ideas to help pay for proms, art class field trips, and movie dates (no, the boy didn’t always have enough allowance money to take me to a matinee) and the one job that I swore I would never take was that of a barista.

To me, the smell of freshly brewed coffee was so potent and offensive that I would have wagered the reality of a dating life in my teens against my ever consuming or making a coffee drink. Nearly 12 years later, the nickname “ the Barista” still sticks since my days at a our local Coffee Café where I was forced to take one of the former statements back. Making a host of coffee drinks did not, however, induct me into the coffee consumption community. But the coffee’s aroma no longer affected me as I graciously served my customers their favorite mochas and lattes, and I realized I could withstand the scent but still did not prefer the taste. It wasn’t until I found myself becoming addicted to the fresh, almost caffeine free, daily dose of chai tea latte that I had while living in Rome in 2003, that I became part of the foam cup wielding community, and I was proud.

Men in designer suits practically flailed themselves off their mopeds and to the feet of café servers for their daily shots of espresso which they kicked back like a shot of tequila and then firmly placed their empty saucer on the counter with vindication. Rushing out the door, they then jumped right back onto the roller coaster track that only those who have lived in or visited Rome would know as its city streets. But not I, oh no. Every day I braced myself for the whirlwind inside those café walls to get a taste of the creamy chai tea latte.

As we all know, “latte” is an Italian word meaning milk and while most of you might add this ingredient to your morning coffee, the milk is the heart of the chai tea latte. Chai (rhymes with tie) is a black tea spiced with selected spices and milk. Everything from cinnamon, black pepper, cardamom and ginger can be added to a chai mix or concentrate. According to the chai experts at www.chai-tea.org- Chai recipes are like Italian minestrone soup – it’s always good but everyone’s recipe is different.” I prefer the creamy deliciousness of vanilla chai tea latte, most popular at cafes and other coffee and beverage shops, world-wide. If you’ve ever had a vanilla steamer, picture that taste having splashed a few of your favorite spices into your cup before you gulp down a truly unique blend of tea, milk, and personally selected spices.

And no, the taste is not the only selling point, although it could sell itself after one sip. The health benefits of drinking a chai tea latte over coffee (even just once a week) come down to the caffeine intake. Not only do chai tea lattes contain almost 3 times less caffeine than your average cup of coffee (somewhere between strong and decaf), the antioxidants (known to prevent neurological conditions and heart disease, the leading cause of death in America), that comprise the black tea in chai are compounded by the spices’ enlivening powers over mental sharpness and awareness. So if you truly believe that “variety is the spice of life,” I recommend you giving a chai tea latte a try, even if you don’t want to give up your daily or weekly coffee intake, because we all deserve more flavorful days.