Bhakti Chai is best chai tea

With a wide variety available on the market - green tea, red rooibos and more - we kept things simple by sticking with the classic blends that use black tea and spices.

Starbucks-owned brand Tazo Chai Latte ($4.59 for 1 quart at Safeway), which lists cinnamon, ginger, cardamom and vanilla as the dominant spices, took second place.

[...] place went to one of the more familiar brands, Oregon Chai.

Landing in fourth place, and reinforcing that folks in Colorado must sure love chai, is Third Street Chai ($5.49 for 32 ounces at Whole Foods), with cardamom, clove, cinnamon, black pepper, fennel, ginger and nutmeg.

While one panelist liked the "cardamom-laced" tea and felt it had a "good spicy finish," others thought the spices lent a "medicinal" and "astringent" note that was "unbalanced."

[...] St. Chai Black Tea Latte 51

Panelists were Linda Anusasananan, food writer, San Mateo; John Carroll, cookbook author, San Francisco; Shelley Handler, food consultant, San Francisco; Emily Luchetti, chief pastry officer, Waterbar and Farallon, San Francisco; Rosemary Mark, recipe developer, Walnut Creek.