Have you ever tried Tibetan butter tea? 🧈☕️ Called po cha in Tibet, butter tea is also popular in western China, Mongolia, and the Himalayan regions of Nepal, Bhutan, India, and Pakistan. For centuries, Tibetans and nomadic tribes have relied on this nourishing medicinal drink to provide energy and relieve fatigue especially at high altitudes. / Traditionally, butter tea is made with Pu’er tea, salt, and yak butter, with optional milk. Pu’er tea (whose remarkable health properties we have covered extensively in earlier posts) originally reached Tibet via the Ancient Tea Horse Trail, a series of trade routes originating in southern China and reaching Tibet and beyond—predating the Silk Road and still in existence today. Tea and other precious cargo would be carried by horse, mule, and yak caravans along a 3,100 mile journey. / The unusual name of this trade route is derived from the early trade of Tibetan war horses for Chinese tea. The Ancient Tea Horse Trail starts in Yunnan, China and reaches Lhasa in Tibet, then passes to Bhutan, Nepal, and India. It’s a difficult journey through precipitous mountain paths that takes 6 months on horseback just for the China leg of the journey. / The highest quality traditional Tibetan butter tea is made from Pu’er tea from Yunnan, where the Tea Horse Trail originated. In fact, Pu’er tea is said to have been created inadvertently during early travels along this trail, in which compressed tea—pressed into brick or cake form for easy transport in these caravans—was exposed to rain and humidity and naturally began to ferment along the journey. By the time it reached Tibet, this tea had undergone a natural fermentation process, which also improved its taste and health properties. / Have you ever tried Tibetan butter tea? If not, will you be making this soon? / The stovetop safe tea pot in this Reel is our Bobo tea pot 🫖 The tea is our ripe Pu’er mini bricks 🍃 . . .
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