Hi Lorrie,

This is one of those tricky areas. It’s like a maple brined pork chop. Some of the maple will be absorbed into the meat, but the majority of it is poured off. I really don’t know how to quantify this. I typically count “half” of the carbs in these instances, but I suspect it’s actually a good deal less.

With spices, most of the flavor comes from oils. Those oils don’t contain carbs. You’re also straining out the spice “matter”, eating none of it. Yes, I’m sure a small portion of sugar is also transferring into the tea, but I don’t know how much … or how to know. For example, what if you steep for 5 minutes? What if you steep overnight? What if you press the spices vs. just letting gravity do its bidding?

I personally wouldn’t pay this specific situation much concern, but some people are very disciplined and diligent about this kind of thing and I respect that level of dedication.

Nutritionix.com suggests 1 cup of chai tea (containing black tea, cinnamon, ginger, cardamom and clove) contains 1.4 carbs with .03 grams fiber, suggesting 1 cup has a net carb count of 1.1 grams. However, because this nutrition contains fiber, it suggests they did not strain the tea and simply included the ingredients in their testing/math.

Most chai tea bags (unsweetened) all list 0 across the board.

Ultimately, I don’t know the answer. It’s one of the gray areas that crop up.

At the very least, I hope I’ve helped shed at least a little light on it, for you. Sorry!