Coffee is a potent potable that I do not and should not drink. Thanks to a record of headaches and migraines at the expense of caffeine on my paternal side, I must watch my daily chocolate intake. I don’t even bother with coffee, so I avoid it like something you’re supposed to avoid.
Of course, whenever the winter months roll around and I see folks sipping white chocolate mochas, pumpkin spice lattes, and other toasty beverages bubbling like sugary, frothy tempests, I feel left out. And in the office, I feel like I’m missing something when my co-workers show up to meetings with their mugs of drip coffee or their regular Starbucks order, desk companions that, to me, ooze professionalism. In warm months, my peers sip on cold brews and iced coffees to keep themselves afloat. Coffee is the drink of grown-ups, more so than alcohol. Consisting of caffeine, it’s the most widely used drug. Hot chocolate doesn’t seem to cut it, and I really only consume it during the winter. But I discovered a drink that has changed the game for this coffee-stripped young professional.
A family trip to Chicago introduced me to this magical coffee substitute when, in the biting midwestern chill, we all stopped at a Dunkin’ for drinks that would most likely serve as hand warmers. To combat the cold and prevent me from headache-induced misery courtesy of ordering an over-caffeinated coffee libation, my mom ordered me a vanilla-flavored mystery. This enigma, I’d soon find out, was known as The Chai Tea Latte - created by boiling black tea and steeping it in foamed milk with a mixture of aromatic herbs and spices. The drink would be the one I’d desperately seek in coffeeshops. The one to define my adult self. At last I had an acceptable beverage that was my ticket into properly joining the ranks of my fellow bibliophiles. Authors and readers, hipsters and music-lovers sip fancy potables in dim indie coffee joints, venues I’ve long avoided due to my inability to drink coffee. I could finally be one of them now that I found my substitute.
I say I desperately sought The Chai Tea Latte because not every coffeeshop I’ve been to has a good one. Some are too spicy with conflicting herbs, too sweet or watery or on the opposite side, too milky with not enough flavor. My journey to find the right one turned into a great odyssey, and I have found some local places to get the proper, the delicious and the highly addictive Chai Tea Latte.
I say highly addictive because I have come to need this drink at least two or three or four times a week. As much as I love cooking and baking, I cannot create a good enough version of this warm potation, so to feed my need for tea and milk and herb harmony, I attend The Filling Station in Sparks Glencoe, a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it type roadside coffeehouse that slings mad pumpkin spice Chai Tea Lattes on my way to work. For closer local fare, it’s Newberry Cafe in my downtown main street hub. This bakery blows it out of the water, and their version of The Chai Tea Latte has seasonal brews ranging from eggnog and gingerbread to butterbeer (whatever that is) and lavender. My grad school in Virginia housed the best barista I know - Ena from Greenberry’s makes one of the best Chai Tea Lattes I’ve ever tasted. I’ve encountered other standouts, and in my travels, I make an effort to support local. As great as my initial sip from Dunkin’ was, Chai Tea Lattes just taste so much better from independent makers.
A magical mystery tour of a sip, whenever I drink down that just right kind of Chai Tea Latte, I’m reminded of so many simple joys that life has to offer. I’m swimming in books, good art, well-crafted pieces of music that strike a balance of having meaningful lyrics and beautiful instrumentals. I’m in the coffeeshop, adulthood, work from 9-5 headspace with my cup in hand, and being in the “coffee or viable substitute” club is a perk to finding love in a latte.