Been trying to make authentic Tibetan butter tea but I can't find any yak
butter nor any wooden tea bowls! Help!!!

On Sep 11, 6:58 am, "Zippy P" > wrote:
> Been trying to make authentic Tibetan butter tea but I can't find any yak
> butter nor any wooden tea bowls! Help!!!

I really don´t want to ruin your nostalgic affection, but most
tibetans use ceramics or porcellain cups these days - as well as
electric blenders. Concerning the yak butter did you try:
yakbutter24.com or vile-r-us.com ?
Seriously, I could ask one of my friends in Nepal or Tibet to ship you
a decent lump, blue veins and all, ...

Karsten

On Sep 11, 4:06 am, wrote:
> On Sep 11, 6:58 am, "Zippy P" > wrote:
>
> > Been trying to make authentic Tibetan butter tea but I can't find any yak
> > butter nor any wooden tea bowls! Help!!!
>
> I really don´t want to ruin your nostalgic affection, but most
> tibetans use ceramics or porcellain cups these days - as well as
> electric blenders. Concerning the yak butter did you try:
> yakbutter24.com or vile-r-us.com ?
> Seriously, I could ask one of my friends in Nepal or Tibet to ship you
> a decent lump, blue veins and all, ...
>
> Karsten

ahh, the downside to information and the Internet. Just about any idea
or project can be researched, purchased, and fulfilled... no matter
how crazy. I'd say your best bet is to take a trip to this part of the
world, try it once, and call it a day. You'll at least have the trip
to a beautiful part of this Earth to savor for the rest of your days,
not so much the butter tea.

Now, if you come away with a newfound addiction... by all means go hog-
wild and gather all the accoutrements and ingredients to relive the
"splendor" heck, maybe even raise a Yak (preferably a female one for
the milking, males may make the butter tea slightly different)

Understandably the trip is more costly, but if it's something you're
into the delay, research, and journey would be well worth it and far
surpass a wooden bowl, some rancid butter FedExed from lord knows
where, and a most assured failure.

Just my 2 pence, but truly my warmest regards in this endeavor,
- Dominic
http://teasphere.wordpress.com

On Sep 11, 9:37 am, "Dominic T." > wrote:
> On Sep 11, 4:06 am, wrote:
>
> > On Sep 11, 6:58 am, "Zippy P" > wrote:
>
> > > Been trying to make authentic Tibetan butter tea but I can't find any yak
> > > butter nor any wooden tea bowls! Help!!!
>
> > I really don´t want to ruin your nostalgic affection, but most
> > tibetans use ceramics or porcellain cups these days - as well as
> > electric blenders. Concerning the yak butter did you try:
> > yakbutter24.com or vile-r-us.com ?
> > Seriously, I could ask one of my friends in Nepal or Tibet to ship you
> > a decent lump, blue veins and all, ...
>
> > Karsten
>
> ahh, the downside to information and the Internet. Just about any idea
> or project can be researched, purchased, and fulfilled... no matter
> how crazy. I'd say your best bet is to take a trip to this part of the
> world, try it once, and call it a day. You'll at least have the trip
> to a beautiful part of this Earth to savor for the rest of your days,
> not so much the butter tea.
>
> Now, if you come away with a newfound addiction... by all means go hog-
> wild and gather all the accoutrements and ingredients to relive the
> "splendor" heck, maybe even raise a Yak (preferably a female one for
> the milking, males may make the butter tea slightly different)
>
> Understandably the trip is more costly, but if it's something you're
> into the delay, research, and journey would be well worth it and far
> surpass a wooden bowl, some rancid butter FedExed from lord knows
> where, and a most assured failure.
>
> Just my 2 pence, but truly my warmest regards in this endeavor,
> - Dominichttp://teasphere.wordpress.com

I researched it, and thought that the best way to go about it is to
raise your own yak (male) along with with 9 xaks (female). They would
be unhappy in a smaller herd. They need a relatively cool location,
perhap a Canadian grazing ground would do. I imagine the butter
production is similar to that of other bovines. Toci

On Sep 11, 4:37 pm, "Dominic T." > wrote:

I'd say your best bet is to take a trip to this part of the
> world, try it once, and call it a day. You'll at least have the trip
> to a beautiful part of this Earth to savor for the rest of your days,
> not so much the butter tea.

Just in case, these days you can find some really nice greens and
oolongs in Lhasa and elsewhere.
Just in case ...

> Understandably the trip is more costly, but if it's something you're
> into the delay, research, and journey would be well worth it and far
> surpass a wooden bowl, some rancid butter FedExed from lord knows
> where, and a most assured failure.

If I were you I´d hurry up and go there before it´s 100% chinese.
Each time I visited Tibet it was less "tibetan" than before. The last
time I found Lhasa to be one of the most depressing places I care to
remember, watching all those beautiful old tibetan quarters disappear
one by one and getting replaced by ohh-soo-white prefab chinese
standard architecture isn´t something I enjoy too much. Not to mention
the catastrophic allover impact on tibetans and their culture the
chinese invasion has produced so far and I´m not even one of those
"free tibet" sorta guys.

http://tinyurl.com/2sumtf

Karsten [Ceylon home blend in tazza]

On Sep 11, 11:30 am, wrote:
> On Sep 11, 4:37 pm, "Dominic T." > wrote:
>
> I'd say your best bet is to take a trip to this part of the
>
> > world, try it once, and call it a day. You'll at least have the trip
> > to a beautiful part of this Earth to savor for the rest of your days,
> > not so much the butter tea.
>
> Just in case, these days you can find some really nice greens and
> oolongs in Lhasa and elsewhere.
> Just in case ...
>
> > Understandably the trip is more costly, but if it's something you're
> > into the delay, research, and journey would be well worth it and far
> > surpass a wooden bowl, some rancid butter FedExed from lord knows
> > where, and a most assured failure.
>
> If I were you I´d hurry up and go there before it´s 100% chinese.
> Each time I visited Tibet it was less "tibetan" than before. The last
> time I found Lhasa to be one of the most depressing places I care to
> remember, watching all those beautiful old tibetan quarters disappear
> one by one and getting replaced by ohh-soo-white prefab chinese
> standard architecture isn´t something I enjoy too much. Not to mention
> the catastrophic allover impact on tibetans and their culture the
> chinese invasion has produced so far and I´m not even one of those
> "free tibet" sorta guys.
>
> http://tinyurl.com/2sumtf
>
> Karsten [Ceylon home blend in tazza]

Wow, nice photo! very cool. Yes, sadly it is probably on a downswing
that may never be recovered from (even with all of the free Tibet guys/
gals/college students) That was kind of why I made the suggestion I
did, because if it is a particular fascination or interest to the OP
his chances are dwindling to actually experience it rather than just a
semi-approximation from his kitchen. A complete loss of a culture is a
major thing, and once they go, they're gone for good only to be hung
on to in small isolated pockets that are a shell of their former
glory. Not to be doom and gloom, but I don;t think all the protests
and good intentions in the world are going to help with this one.

- Dominic
http://teasphere.wordpress.com

On Sep 11, 5:48 pm, "Dominic T." > wrote:

> Wow, nice photo! very cool.

Ah well, the pic would have shown an incredibly nice area if ... if it
had been shot a few years earlier.
It would show
- a lovely lake [has been dried up and replaced with tarmac]
- old colourful tibetan houses [replaced by all those white prefab
buildings that you can see now]
- hoards of tibetans enjoying their picnics.

Some few locals and myself liked it much better back then, YMMV.

Back in the 30s Alexandra David-Neel described how she could make out
the mighty potala from tens of miles away.
Nowadays pretty much the only way to see it is to stand right in front
of it, just follow the giant "Nescafe" billboards.
Nestlé sure missed their chance to introduce 3-in-1 instant yak butter
tea.
Make your day with that taste.
Back to real tea.

Karsten [Ceylon home blend in tazza]

On Sep 10, 9:58 pm, "Zippy P" > wrote:
> Been trying to make authentic Tibetan butter tea but I can't find any yak
> butter nor any wooden tea bowls! Help!!!

I don't know whether this will help or not: we have friends who have a
Tibetan restaurant here in the Bay area. The husband cooks for His
Holiness when he comes this way. My friend uses Hawaiian salt in the
tea and plain old organic UNsalted butter since he's unable to get yak
butter, and says that most Tibetans he knows (HHDL included) prefer
it.
In my visits to Dharmasala, I was given the option and chose cow
butter since I agree with Karsten, yak butter is pretty vile stuff.
Shen

On Sep 11, 8:05 pm, Shen > wrote:
> On Sep 10, 9:58 pm, "Zippy P" > wrote:

> I don't know whether this will help or not: we have friends who have a
> Tibetan restaurant here in the Bay area. The husband cooks for His
> Holiness when he comes this way. My friend uses Hawaiian salt in the
> tea and plain old organic UNsalted butter since he's unable to get yak
> butter, and says that most Tibetans he knows (HHDL included) prefer
> it.
> In my visits to Dharmasala, I was given the option and chose cow
> butter since I agree with Karsten, yak butter is pretty vile stuff.
> Shen

Even in Darjeeling, which has a sizeable community of tibetans, Yak or
dzo[mo] butter is hard to come by these days.
In the meantime most "northern people" I know prefer cow butter
instead, still sold as huge lumps.
Back in my happy years in the central Himalayas, in areas like Mustang
or the Langtang range, you didn´t need a watch to tell it´s teatime.
The thin mountain air would transfer the wonderful aroma of authentic
YBT over respectable distances, you just had to follow your nose [in
my case the opposite direction].
However, if anyone should run into fresh tsampa [roasted barley,
finely ground], by all means, give it a try. I really don´t wanna be
without it this delicious energy powder.
Again back to tea.

Karsten

On Sep 10, 9:58 pm, "Zippy P" > wrote:
> Been trying to make authentic Tibetan butter tea but I can't find any yak
> butter nor any wooden tea bowls! Help!!!

Rosewood tea bowls -
http://cgi.ebay.com/LUXURIOUS-Butter...QQcmdZViewItem

Shen

quite lovely

In article >,
Zippy P > wrote:
>Been trying to make authentic Tibetan butter tea but I can't find any yak
>butter nor any wooden tea bowls! Help!!!

You can't just buy commercial yak butter off the shelf. And even if you
could, you'd never know if it were properly rancid.

FIRST of all, you need to make your own butter using only fresh yak milk
and a genuine yak butter churn. And that means having your own personal
yak. Think of the benefits of having a yak in the yard. You'll never need
to mow the lawn again, and also it will prevent burglars from entering your
properly. It might even prevent postmen and meter readers from entering
your properly.

THEN once you have the correctly rancid yak butter (measured for rancidity
ONLY with a calibrated rancidometer), then you need the right tea. And
that is special Nepalese green tea from the Eight Obscure Tea Mountains.
No other tea will do.

THEN, you must have these blended together carefully only by properly
chosen young and nubile Nepalese girls, imported at great expense from the
mountains of Nepal.

Now, once you have done this, climb into a walk-in freezer and stay there
for about a week, in order to get in the correct mental environment to
appreciate it. Light a fire on your sterno burner and enjoy a cup right
there. I promise it will be worth the trouble.
--scott
--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."

On Sep 10, 9:58 pm, "Zippy P" > wrote:
> Been trying to make authentic Tibetan butter tea but I can't find any yak
> butter nor any wooden tea bowls! Help!!!

Hmmm...I thought Yunnan Sourcing had some yak butter for sale (or was
I dreaming). But it's not listed anymore. What's the closest
substitute, taste wise? I mean, I assume it doesn't taste anything
like cow butter.

Phyll

On Sep 11, 6:09 pm, Phyll > wrote:
> On Sep 10, 9:58 pm, "Zippy P" > wrote:
>
> > Been trying to make authentic Tibetan butter tea but I can't find any yak
> > butter nor any wooden tea bowls! Help!!!
>
> Hmmm...I thought Yunnan Sourcing had some yak butter for sale (or was
> I dreaming). But it's not listed anymore. What's the closest
> substitute, taste wise? I mean, I assume it doesn't taste anything
> like cow butter.
>
> Phyll

PS - Yak butter - best when rock hard

I checked them out though and they have some interesting stuff.

On Sep 10, 9:58 pm, "Zippy P" > wrote:
> Been trying to make authentic Tibetan butter tea but I can't find any yak
> butter nor any wooden tea bowls! Help!!!

Lonely Planet considers yak butter tea number #2 on its list of "Ten
Worst Things About Tibet" beating out rabid dogs, sauteed aged lamb's
penis and squat toilets.
Resembles - very old Liederkranz.
Yum!
Shen

On Sep 11, 11:28 pm, Shen > wrote:
> On Sep 10, 9:58 pm, "Zippy P" > wrote:
>
> > Been trying to make authentic Tibetan butter tea but I can't find any yak
> > butter nor any wooden tea bowls! Help!!!
>
> Lonely Planet considers yak butter tea number #2 on its list of "Ten
> Worst Things About Tibet" beating out rabid dogs, sauteed aged lamb's
> penis and squat toilets.
> Resembles - very old Liederkranz.
> Yum!
> Shen

This sums it up better than any long winded platitude could ever dream
to. Rabid dogs, aged lamb penis (no matter the preparation), and squat
toilets.

Quite possibly the best thing I've read online in weeks! Thanks for
the smile. That's why I come here.

- Dominic

"Dominic T." > writes:

> On Sep 11, 11:28 pm, Shen > wrote:
> > [...]
> > Lonely Planet considers yak butter tea number #2 on its list of "Ten
> > Worst Things About Tibet" beating out rabid dogs, sauteed aged lamb's
> > penis and squat toilets.
> > Resembles - very old Liederkranz.
> > Yum!
>
> This sums it up better than any long winded platitude could ever dream
> to. Rabid dogs, aged lamb penis (no matter the preparation), and squat
> toilets.

Forgive me if you're aware of this already, but squat toilets are
something you have to deal with in some of the nicest, cleanest restrooms
in wide areas of the world, especially China. And they're quite
alright when they're clean.

/Lew
---
Lew Perin /
http://www.panix.com/~perin/babelcarp.html

On Sep 12, 11:16 am, Lewis Perin > wrote:
> "Dominic T." > writes:
> > On Sep 11, 11:28 pm, Shen > wrote:
> > > [...]
> > > Lonely Planet considers yak butter tea number #2 on its list of "Ten
> > > Worst Things About Tibet" beating out rabid dogs, sauteed aged lamb's
> > > penis and squat toilets.
> > > Resembles - very old Liederkranz.
> > > Yum!
>
> > This sums it up better than any long winded platitude could ever dream
> > to. Rabid dogs, aged lamb penis (no matter the preparation), and squat
> > toilets.
>
> Forgive me if you're aware of this already, but squat toilets are
> something you have to deal with in some of the nicest, cleanest restrooms
> in wide areas of the world, especially China. And they're quite
> alright when they're clean.
>
> /Lew
> ---
> Lew Perin /

Yeah, it wasn't so much any one item in the list but the list itself.
It pretty much conjures up a perfect image of just how bad Yak butter
tea can be. Just about all public toilets are squat toilets to me
regardless of country. I've even had Yak butter tea that was not
rancid and horrible, but it was most likely made as others here
mentioned with regular butter and salt... it was quite sweet and
savory, not my cup of tea but not putrid as my close friends have
recounted in some detail.

I actually emailed the link to this thread to two of them and they
both howled at that list and agreed wholeheartedly.

- Dominic