So I was reading through a vendor's list of products today,
and I saw "Tibetan Yak Butter Instant Tea" packets.
Apparently it's a beverage. The packets are dried Yak
Butter, with sugar and salt. Mix with hot water, and bingo.
Instant cup of Yak Butter Tea. They suggest using Pu Er tea
instead of hot water for a flavour twist.

Now I've seen people drink a lot of strange things.. but
I've certainly never heard of Yak Butter Tea before.... WTF?

Anyone have any insight?

Good? Bad? Awesome? Disgusting? Healthy? The perfect
alternative to milk in your homemade chai? What is it??!?!

Thanks,
Troy

..

Troy Howard wrote:
So I was reading through a vendor's list of products today,
and I saw "Tibetan Yak Butter Instant Tea" packets.
Apparently it's a beverage. The packets are dried Yak
Butter, with sugar and salt. Mix with hot water, and bingo.
Instant cup of Yak Butter Tea. They suggest using Pu Er tea
instead of hot water for a flavour twist.

Now I've seen people drink a lot of strange things.. but
I've certainly never heard of Yak Butter Tea before.... WTF?

Anyone have any insight?

Good? Bad? Awesome? Disgusting? Healthy? The perfect
alternative to milk in your homemade chai? What is it??!?!

Thanks,
Troy

.
I've never been tempted to try it myself, but tsampa is a traditional
Tibetan beverage (or maybe food), involving tea, yak butter, and barley,
if memory serves.

dmh

Troy Howard wrote:

Now I've seen people drink a lot of strange things.. but
I've certainly never heard of Yak Butter Tea before.... WTF?

Anyone have any insight?

But... it is SPECIAL yak butter because it is RANCID.

Good? Bad? Awesome? Disgusting? Healthy? The perfect
alternative to milk in your homemade chai? What is it??!?!

I think it's one of the nastiest things I ever put in my mouth, but I
could see how yak butter tea might not be a bad thing if you are otherwise
malnourished and living in an ungodly cold climate.
--scott
--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."

Now I've seen people drink a lot of strange things.. but
I've certainly never heard of Yak Butter Tea before.... WTF?

Anyone have any insight?

Yup.
I spent some years in the Nepali Himalayas and been to Tibet three
times and still run away when I just smell it. Right now I'm living
with a Nepali Sherpa family in Darjeeling. Let them drink their butter
tea and leave me the second flushes and Darjeeling Oolongs.
If you travel on the tibetan countryside and happen to run into nomads
or Naljorpas (wandering monks) their butter tea is the real thing. They
prefer their butter aged, read containing blue veins of mold. You can
smell that stuff miles away. You'll probably get the best stuff in
Lhasa and some monasteries, almost drinkable, but for my tastes it's
still too much.
Finally a recipe to get the idea:
- boil up some strong Yunnan brick or loose tea
- add a pinch of soda (mandatory)
- add salt and sugar (Lhasa/Sikkim style) according to taste
- now add about 5-15% of butter and give it a 30s whirl in a blender
- serve steaming hot in a wooden bowl or chinese teacup
- "... enjoy..."

For an idea of the real thing try some rancid butter ...

Best,
Karsten / Darjeeling