You’re deep in that midday lag and there are five people in front of you in the Starbucks line. Are you the type to sip on some Earl Grey the rest of the afternoon, or do you need to guzzle as many mochas as you can?

Tea and coffee, once café favorites, now divide people into teams. Coffee drinkers cringe when they spot tea bags dangling outside coffee cups and tea drinkers roll their eyes at the elaborate orders coffee drinkers get.

“In the morning, I drink coffee to wake up and I drink tea at night,” Maggie Stanfill, a junior at Colorado Mesa University, said. “I like Sleepytime tea or caramel tea, and I add cream to it. Coffeemate, always. No matter what kind of tea I drink, I always just add the vanilla creamer to it.”

Many coffee drinkers prefer coffee over tea for the caffeine. However, tea often has more caffeine than coffee. Yet when it’s added to water, the caffeine becomes much more diluted, while coffee can have a higher concentration in smaller amounts of liquid.

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If more tea is added to the water, tea can very easily have just as much, if not more, caffeine than coffee. When Stanfill discovered this, she couldn’t believe it.

“Now that I know that, I’ll probably start drinking tea in the mornings,” Stanfill said.

With so many various tea flavors, ranging from peppermint to orange spice, there’s a tea for everyone. Not to mention all the different kinds of milk and creamers and sugars that can be added to.  

Yet, with all the different kinds of coffee and ways to prepare a good cup of joe, it’s can be difficult to compete. Ashlyn Kirschner, Colorado Mesa University junior, identifies as a strict coffee person.

“I drink coffee every day. My favorite is Starbucks, and so when I have money, I go to Starbucks, but I also have a really nice coffee maker at home,” Kirschner said. “My drink is a caramel macchiato with an extra shot. I prefer it hot, but it depends on the weather. I do like tea, but I definitely prefer coffee.”

Kirchner, along with so many of us, identifies as being a caffeine addict. But, between classes, adulting, trying to be healthy and maintain a social life, we all could use a little boost here and there.

No matter which team you choose, be it the finest leaves or the strongest brews, there is always the happy medium in a chai latte. What is a chai latte? It’s like a latte, but instead of the straight espresso, it’s substituted with concentrated chai tea, a spicy sweet tea that leaves you feeling awake and happy.

The perks of the chai latte is a compromise of the perks of each. Tea drinkers don’t choke on the harsh flavors of espresso and coffee drinkers don’t sacrifice the caffeination, since the tea is super concentrated.

This is a go-to drink for anyone stepping out of the comfort zone and experimenting with café drinks. With many combinations at Starbucks alone, not to mention other coffee shops on and around campus like Four Winds, Mountain Grind Coffee, Trader’s Coffee and more, there’s a limitless opportunity to continue your own coffee vs. tea journey.