Yak tea or butter tea is a time-honored drink in the Himalayas, particularly in Tibet. Called po cha, this tea is also well-loved in the hinterlands of Bhutan, Nepal, India, and China. These areas are home to the yak, the hairy bovid that provides yak butter. Yak butter is the distinguishing ingredient of this highland tea.

Yak Tea and its Customs

Though not as formal or as ritualized as the Japanese tea ceremony, there is a prescribed etiquette to be followed when yak butter tea is drunk in the Himalayas. The tea is always offered to guests; it would be a serious breach of good manners not to do so. Tibetans drink a lot of it during the day, so households keep an available supply. At any given time. [Read more…]

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