Chi Drinks

 

Many different drinks and blends can be called chi. They key thing though is that they all of some type of spice blend that gives it a little bite. So if you are wanting to curl up with a good book and something hot to drink, here are a few that I have tried in the Denver Metro area.

Drinks You Can Pick Up At The Store

Café Escapes Chai Latte 

                                                  

I'm not sure where this was from since I tried it at work. It was actually really good and I would by it myself. I tried it in the smallest setting which is usually about 6oz and I wouldn't recommend using one of the higher settings since that would just water it down too much.

Drinks At Restaurants

Lavender Chi Latte

I'm actually starting to really become a fan of Nordstrom's eBar. They make really good drinks. I'm not a fan of chi, but this was the best chi I have ever tried. For a lavender drink it would get a F grade because there was no lavender taste to it even though I asked them to double the lavender in it (from 3 pumps to 6 pumps). As a chi only drink it was amazing. I highly recommend this drink, just not for the lavender.

Iced Lavender Chi (Nodstroms eBar)

Not as good as the hot version, but still pretty good. Tried May 2023.

Maple Spice Chi (Kataluma Chi)

For this drink they use their spicy chi base, but if that's too strong for you, you could choose their vanilla chi base. I was afraid that the chi would overpower the maple, but it didn't. This was very good and I would try it again. Tried July 2023.

Lavender Chi (Raven's Roast, Estes Park)

I tried my mom's lavender chi latte, it was also a little weak on the lavender but it was one of the best chi drinks I have tried and I'm not a huge fan of chi. The normal bite of the chi was smoothed out. Of the lavender chis I have tried over the years I would say this was the third best one. Tried April 2023.

Almond Joy Chi (Kataluma Chi, Flat Irons Mall) 

I have no idea how they did it, but this drink tasted like they just microwaved the candy bar in a cup and handed it to you. Each flavor came through clearly and none of them overpowered the other flavors. For this drink the base is their chocolate chi. I'm not a big fan of coconut, but I would order this drink again. Tried April 2023.

Dazbog Peppermint Chi

Disappointing. For the most point it was just a normal chi. I hardly got any peppermint flavoring. Tried December 2022.

Honey Vanilla Chi (Crave Coffee Rosters)

This was a super dry chi that was not smooth. I also didn't get any of the vanilla or honey flavor because of how watered down the drink was with dairy (2% milk). Tried July 2023.

Gingerbread Chi (Kataluma Chi)

For this chi drink they use their vanilla based chi. I didn't order it with any modifications. I should have. Their vanilla chi has a very powerful vanilla flavor and it easily overpowered the gingerbread flavor. It would have needed at least 4 extra pumps of gingerbread to have the flavor come out. Normally their ratios of flavors work out, but on this drink it did not. It was a good vanilla chi, but that wasn't what I was wanting at that time. Tried December 2023.

Gingerbread Oatmilk Chi (Starbucks)

This version of Starbucks' gingerbread chi (hot) I super modified and it came out great. I asked for 3 extra pumps which brought the total for the drink to 9 pumps. I also asked for almond milk and the nuttiness helped bring out the gingerbread. So overall, it is possible to get a good drink at a Starbucks, but you need to modify their recipes to get it. Tried December 2023.  

Iced Gingerbread Oatmilk Chi (Starbucks)

Oat milk has a very distinctive taste and it can overpower other flavors like it did with just ordering this drink standard. I ordered this drink a few days later and asked for the normal 8 pumps of the syrup for the large size and it was fine. It really does normally take 8 pumps of any syrup to have the flavor really shine in Star Bucks drinks. I would say it was ok, but it didn't wow me. I would order it again in the modified version (8 pumps). Tried November 2023. 

Top Picture From: https://www.splenda.com/recipe/chai-tea-blend/