March 28, 2016, by Olivia

In Search of the Perfect Chai Latte in Nottingham

My friends and blog readers know there is nothing more I love than a good cup of coffee. Lately I have been trying to cut down on my caffeine intake so I decided to go by a less-caffeinated/decaf route by swapping coffee for chai lattes. It’s something I did not expect to like because obviously there is no caffeine. However I was pleasantly surprised and this has quickly become my go to drink for when I am not quite feeling the need for a caffeine kick.

Starbucks Coffee


Probably the worst one I have tried so far. The “chai” element of the latte came in the form of a syrup. Although what more could I expect from Starbucks? Unsurprisingly the latte was too sweet and lacked the spice it needed. The worst part of it was, no matter how many times I stirred to allow the syrup to mix more evenly it would still fall to the bottom leaving me with an even more unpleasant end to the drink. (Rating: 0/5)

Costa Coffee


Costa fared only a little bit better than the chai latte at Starbucks and that isn’t saying much seeing how poorly Starbucks fared. Costa did slightly better in respect to the drink not tasting like it was made out of 90% sugar syrup. However it was so overly spiced you could not taste anything else and the taste of the spices were in my mouth for hours after finishing the drink. (Rating: 0.5/5)

Caffè Nero

Picture by my partner in crime Eunice

Of all the major coffee chains I would say Nero fared the best. Just the right balance of milk and spices that you could actually taste the separate components of the latte. They even top it off with extra cinnamon if you prefer it! (Rating: 3.5/5)

Wired Cafe

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Wired probably had the best chai latte out of all the cafes I tried. Milk, tea, spices and just the right amount of sweetness. Enough said! (Rating: 4/5)

Fox Cafe

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This was a bit of a disappointment as I had heard good things about the food at Fox Cafe. I thought this would translate into their hot drinks menu as well. Unfortunately I was wrong, as my chai latte was just a teapigs teabag steeping in some hot milk which made for a latte that didn’t taste of much. (Rating: 1/5)

Hope you had a lovely easter weekend and if you know of anywhere else in Notts that serves up a good chai latte please let me know!

Posted in Olivia