My large soy peppermint masala chai latte

I gave up coffee a few months ago, because it made me jittery and emotionally snappy (something I didn't like!). I've been slowly falling off the wagon since then, starting with green tea (a known gateway beverage), moving to oolong tea, and now Peet's Masala Chai. Since it's winter (as winter as San Diego gets), I'm adding peppermint. It makes me feel cozy.

But I've taken a look at what the Peet's baristas are putting in the cup--and it looks as dark as coffee! What's in it? According to Peet's website, it "incorporates pungent Assam and South India broken leaf teas blended with cinnamon, ginger, cardamon, cloves, and fresh-ground tellicherry peppercorns."

That sounds pretty authentic. According to Wikipedia:

Traditionally, Masala Chai is a bracing, strongly spiced beverage brewed with so-called "warm" spices. Most masala chai incorporates one or more of the following: cardamom, cinnamon, ginger, star anise, peppercorn, and cloves are some of the most common elements, though masala chai can be made with such varied ingredients as nutmeg, chocolate, cocoa, vanilla or licorice. The green tea-based Kashmiri version of chai is brewed with almonds, cinnamon, black pepper, cardamom, and sometimes saffron.

It may be dark, and may still have a lot of caffeine, but I'm not (very) jittery or (very) emotionally snappy. And it makes me feel so cozy.