Product Overview
Dating back to the 7th century, butter tea (po cha) was a daily ritual for many families in the Himalayan regions of Nepal, Bhutan, India, and most famously, Tibet. Each morning, workers in cold climates would be served a bowl of yak butter tea- made with black tea (pu erh), salt, yak milk, and yak butter. The thick, soup-like mixture would be prepared and made for guests and family, and would be refilled constantly through the morning ritual. If a guest no longer wishes to drink the tea, the custom is to leave the bowl filled until time of departure, in which the guest is expected to drink the entire bowl until empty.
The tea is best suited for cold, high-altitude climates, as it contains high-fat caloric content that the workers needed to face the brutal climate of the Himalayas. Tea bricks are kept in the village, and mixtures of yak butter tea will be kept warm for days, churned and served as-needed. With yak butter being a large source of income for many Tibetan villages, butter and milk curds are often kept for guests and workers, while many families will make their tea with a powdered concentrate that is easier and cheaper to store.
Yak butter tea is traditionally made with bricks of aged Pu Erh teas, using the only fermented tea as its base. The fermentation process allows the tea to retain positive enzymes and bacteria, much like a natural probiotic. These enzymes have been known to help cleanse the blood and digestive tract of toxins that build up over time from food processes and acids that we consume on a daily basis. The healthy bacteria aids in digestion by binding to fatty acids, and keeping the intestines happy and productive.
