Butter Tea and the Tibetan Regions: Pu'er's Journey West

A steaming bowl of butter tea, rich with milky aroma and saltiness, is part of everyday Tibetan life. It's drunk on waking, alongside tsampa at meals, and all the more when guests arrive. No tea grows on the plateau, and much of the tea in that bowl comes from Sichuan and Yunnan, a thousand miles away. And so the story of pu'er extends all the way to the other side of the snow mountains.

What Is Butter Tea?

Butter tea is a drink made from tea, butter, and salt. The butter (酥油, suyou) is milk fat rendered from cow's or yak's milk, similar to regular butter.

The traditional method

1. Break off a piece of brick tea or compressed tea and boil it in a pot with water for a long time to make a strong brew.
2. Strain out the leaves.
3. Pour the tea into a tall, narrow wooden churn (the butter tea churn), and add butter and salt.
4. Plunge a wooden rod with a disc at the end up and down vigorously dozens of times, so the fat, tea, and salt fully mix and emulsify.
5. Pour it into a pot to heat, then into bowls to drink.

This "churning" step is key; if it isn't churned evenly, the fat floats on the surface. Well-churned butter tea is the color of milk tea, with a smooth, rich, salty taste.

What Tea Is Used for Butter Tea?

Traditionally, it's made with compressed border tea (邊銷茶), meaning tea produced specifically to supply frontier regions. Common types include:

• Sichuan's Tibetan tea (Nanlu border tea): With a long history, it's one of Tibet's main sources of tea.
• Yunnan's jincha and tuocha: Traveling north from Dali and Lijiang, entering Tibetan regions via Diqing.
• Other brick teas: Dark tea bricks produced in various places.

What these teas share is that they're tightly compressed, hold up to transport and storage, and withstand long boiling, giving a dark liquor and a thick taste. Which one is used depends mainly on the region and what's easy to obtain. Tibetan tea and pu'er are compared in Pu'er and Other Dark Teas.

Why Did Tibetan Regions Need Yunnan Tea?

• The plateau grows no tea: The Tibetan Plateau is high and cold, unsuitable for tea trees.
• Dietary habits: The traditional plateau diet centers on tsampa (roasted highland barley flour), meat, and dairy, making tea an indispensable part of daily meals; there's a saying, "Better three days without grain than one day without tea."
• Historical exchange: From the Tang and Song dynasties on, there was a "tea-horse trade" between Han and Tibetan regions: tea was carried into Tibetan areas from Sichuan and Yunnan, while horses, medicinal herbs, furs, and other goods went out.

Yunnan tea traveled along the Tea Horse Road from Pu'er, Xishuangbanna, Dali, and Lijiang northward, through Shangri-La (Diqing), and into Tibet; see The Ancient Tea Horse Road.

Jincha, Tuocha, and the Tibetan Regions

Jincha

Jincha (緊茶) is a compressed tea from Yunnan made specifically for Tibetan regions. Its traditional shape is like a heart or mushroom with a stem, so it's also called "mushroom tuo" or "heart-shaped jincha." This shape made it easy for mule caravans to tie up and transport, and by one account it also breathed better on long journeys. Jincha's shape has changed over different eras; by one account it was changed to a brick in the 1960s and later returned to the mushroom shape. See Jincha and Square Bricks.

Tuocha

Tuocha (沱茶) is a bowl-shaped compressed tea, with Xiaguan in Dali its most famous producer; it's generally said to have appeared in the early 1900s. Tuocha was sold mainly to Sichuan, Chongqing, and nearby areas, with some also entering Tibetan regions as border tea; see Tuocha.

The very existence of these compressed teas makes one thing clear: a major reason pu'er was pressed into blocks was long-distance transport. From the tea mountains of Yunnan to Lhasa, a mule caravan could be on the road for months.

Can You Make Butter Tea at Home?

Yes, with a simple version using easy-to-find ingredients:

Ingredients (2 servings)

• 8–10 g ripe pu'er or brick tea
• 600 ml water
• 20–30 g unsalted butter (in place of suyou)
• 1–2 g salt
• 100 ml fresh milk (optional; it makes the texture gentler)

Method

1. Put the tea in a pot with the water, bring to a boil, then simmer on low for 5–10 minutes to make a strong brew.
2. Strain out the leaves and take about 400 ml of tea.
3. Pour the hot tea, butter, salt, and milk into a blender, or use an immersion blender, and blend for 20–30 seconds until fine bubbles form on top and the color is even.
4. Pour into cups and drink while hot.

Tips

• When blending hot liquids, hold the lid down firmly and start on low speed so hot liquid doesn't spray out.
• Start with a little salt and adjust to taste.
• Ripe pu'er's mellow depth works very well; raw pu'er works too, but the flavor is lighter.

First-timers may find "salty milk tea" a novelty, but on a cold day, a bowl of this rich hot tea is deeply satisfying. If you'd prefer a sweet version, make Pu'er Milk Tea instead.

FAQ

What tea is used for butter tea? Traditionally, compressed border teas, such as Sichuan's Tibetan tea and Yunnan's jincha and tuocha, brick teas that withstand long boiling and give a dark liquor.

Why did Tibetan regions need Yunnan tea? The plateau grows no tea, and tea is an indispensable part of the local daily diet; historically it was brought in from Sichuan and Yunnan through the tea-horse trade and the Tea Horse Road.

How are jincha and tuocha related to Tibetan regions? Jincha is Yunnan's mushroom-shaped compressed tea made specifically for Tibetan regions; some Xiaguan tuocha also entered as border tea. Compression was for long-distance transport.

Can I make butter tea at home? Yes. Boil ripe pu'er or brick tea into a strong brew, add unsalted butter, a little salt, and fresh milk, and blend until smooth.