About Drink Me Chai

Drink Me Chai took the coffee-shop chai latte and made it something you can make properly at home in a minute. Founded in England in 2008, it arrived just as British cafes had trained a generation to order chai latte by name, and spotted the gap: people liked the drink but had no realistic way to recreate it, because authentic masala chai brewed on the hob is a faff most mornings cannot accommodate. The answer was a powdered sachet carrying the masala spice character in a format needing only hot water or milk.

The range is built tightly around that idea: Spiced Chai as the everyday standard, the sweeter Vanilla as the coffee-shop favourite, Salted Caramel and Chocolate as indulgences, and a Dirty Chai with a coffee hit. It grew out of supplying cafes before it reached the home shelf, which is why the powder is engineered to froth like the barista version and works with dairy or any plant milk. For our shelf Drink Me Chai is the honest answer to a specific customer: if someone has ordered a chai latte from a coffee shop and wants that exact cup at home without loose spices and a milk pan, this is it. It is not pretending to be authentic hob-brewed masala chai; it is competing with the cafe, and against the cafe cup it is faithful, fast and a fraction of the price.

Key facts

• Founded for the home barista Amanda Hamilton launched Drink Me Chai in 2008 to scratch the very specific itch of UK chai drinkers who liked the cafe version but didn't have the time, ingredients or kit to brew real masala chai from scratch at home.
• Independent UK blender The brand is independently owned and operated from the UK, blending and packing its powdered chai lattes in Britain rather than co-packing through a multinational beverage group.
• Cafe-style chai at home Every blend is built around the structural goal of replicating the cafe cup: creamy mouthfeel from skimmed milk powder, real black tea for the caffeine layer, and a proper masala spice profile rather than a flavour spray.
• Expanded flavour range From the original Spiced Chai the range has grown to cover Vanilla, Chocolate, Salted Caramel, Apple Pie, Dirty Chai (with real espresso) and a selection box of 6 sachets for trying the lot.

The founders

Brand timeline

1. 2008 Amanda Hamilton founds Drink Me Chai

   Amanda launches Drink Me Chai in the UK to bring cafe-style chai latte into a powder format that British customers can make at home in 30 seconds rather than the traditional 12-minute saucepan ritual. The original Spiced Chai is the first product on the shelf.

2. 2012 Range expansion + supermarket listings

   The brand expands from a single Spiced Chai into Vanilla and Chocolate variants and lands its first major UK supermarket listings, putting cafe-style chai latte directly onto the shelf next to the coffee aisle for the first time at scale.

3. Today Independent UK blender, full flavour range

   Drink Me Chai remains independently owned and operated from the UK, blending and packing in Britain. The range now covers Spiced, Vanilla, Chocolate, Salted Caramel, Apple Pie, Dirty Chai (with real espresso) and a 6-sachet selection box. Found across all major UK supermarkets and specialist retailers.

4. 2026 Stocked at Teas.co.uk

   Hand-picked into the curator selection for the full Drink Me Chai range at Teas.co.uk: Apple Pie, Chocolate, Dirty Chai, Spiced, Vanilla and the 6-sachet Selection Box for trying the lot in a single carton.

Sustainability

Drink Me Chai operates within the practical sustainability constraints of a UK-blended powdered beverage brand. The blends are dairy-based by design (skimmed milk powder is the structural body of every cup) so the brand is honest about its category position rather than greenwashing. Where Drink Me Chai does push: the outer carton is FSC-certified card and 100% kerbside recyclable, the powder format dramatically reduces shipping weight compared to ready-to-drink chai cans, the brand uses real spices and real black tea rather than artificial flavourings, and the entire range is suitable for vegetarians. The Salted Caramel and Vanilla variants carry recyclable packaging credentials, and the brand has progressively reformulated to reduce added sugar versions across the range.

• FSC Recyclable Card Outer The cardboard outer carton is FSC-certified from responsibly managed forests and fully kerbside recyclable in the UK with no special processing required.
• Lower Shipping Footprint Powdered chai latte ships at roughly one-tenth the weight of equivalent ready-to-drink chai cans, dramatically cutting the per-cup transport footprint from blender to shelf to home.
• Real Spice, Real Tea Every blend uses real ground masala spices and real black tea powder rather than artificial flavouring sprays, with no synthetic aromatic compounds added to extend shelf life or fake spice depth.
• Vegetarian Throughout The full Drink Me Chai range is suitable for vegetarians, with no animal-derived ingredients beyond the skimmed milk powder that provides the creamy cup body.