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Chai Tea STAFF PICK: First came the bean. Then the spiced leaf. Then five years ago, a "grande low-fat double cap with nutmeg and cinnamon." But since the specialty coffee shops have become a mainstay of the urban experience, enter the newest beverage: chai tea. Chai is Portland's answer to Seattle's claim on the coffee craze ("Oregon Chai" seems to have become a buzzword), and the deliciously aromatic tea is popping up on coffee-bar menus across Tucson. Though originally an Eastern phenomenon (that's east as in Asia, not the Atlantic coast), here in the West you can find a host of kinky new chai concoctions, including Starbuck's frosty "chai frappe." Chai tea is actually a distinctive blend of teas, ginger, vanilla and more discrete spices carefully simmered and served hot or iced. Local java joints and eateries that offer chai usually purchase it as a concentrate, to which they add their own simmered spices and milk--regular or low-fat or soy or whatever. Like coffee, chai is served hot or cold; and like iced coffee, it can be a bit on the watery side if you go the low-fat route (or it isn't prepared with the iced version in mind). For those who don't favor the exotic, give it a few years and chai will be as close as your nearest convenience store. But rest assured--it's coming.
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