Magic Tibetan Tea - Po Cha 'Tibetan Butter Tea'

Tashi delek - བཀྲ་ཤིས་བདེ་ལེགས

Po Cha

Tibetan Tea Recipe

Po Cha is also known as Tibetan Butter Tea.

Tibetan tea is an essential drink for Tibetans. It gives you the energy you need, it cleanses your body, it keeps you warm and healthy. To extent the power of this tea and to offer tea lovers new experiences, Tibetans created different kinds of Tibetan tea, by adding extra ingredients.

Po cha or Tibetan Butter Tea

This drink is the most typical Tibetan drink. If you happen to visit a Tibetan house, you will certainly have the pleasure to experiment it and feel it warming up your body and soul!

Ingredients:

plain black tea (2 tea bags or 1 tbsp. of loose leaf);

¼ tsp. of salt;

2 tbsp. of butter;

½ cup of milk;

1 churn or large container with a lid.

If you are in Tibet it´s more difficult to brew this tea because it comes in bricks, which means you have to boil it for several hours to achieve that magic liquid. However, there are easier ways to do it. Loose black tea leaves or black tea bags are good options as well.

Step 1

Choose 5 or 6 china cups and boil the necessary water to fill them.

Step 2

Pour two tea bags or one tbsp. of loose leaf into the boiling water and wait 2-3 minutes. Watch the liquid gaining its strength and color.

Step 3

Gently remove the tea bags or strain the tea leaves.

Step 4

Take your container or blender and pour your tea in it. Then add salt, butter and milk. Shake it for 2 or 3 minutes or preferably pour the tea from one container to another container from a distance (around half a metre) at least 10 times to aerate it, a very important step.

Step 5

Serve Po Cha immediately to enjoy a world of new sensations.

This delicious tea will keep you warm in the winter and help you feel healthy and strong.

Tibetan Tea

Tibetan tea is a great example of the several black tea varieties waiting to be discovered. Delicious, healthy and exquisite, this tea, also known as Tibeti or Zangcha in Chinese, is a unique black tea that comes from Yaan.

What makes this tea unsual? It is a kind of tea brick.

Tea Brick – an ancient form of tea

Tea brick, also known as compressed tea is made of tea leaves, coarse leaves, twigs and shrub leaves, among other things. This unique mixture is steamed, weighed and compressed into hard bricks, which weigh between twenty two and twenty six pounds.

Another interesting fact is that this ancient form of tea was not only used as a beverage, but also as food in times of hunger and as currency throughout Asia. Due to the high value of tea, it was greatly appreciated as merchandise, also because of its powerful health benefits.

This black tea is filled with amazing compounds that help heal your mind and body.

Tibetan Tea Health Benefits – the strength of a black tea

This distinctive black tea is embellished with extraordinary compounds such as polyphenol, tea pigments, theaflavins, thearubigins, carotene, vitamins, polysaccharide, amino acids, alkaloids and inorganic compounds that provide you with numerous health benefits.

Weight loss
Tibetan tea may be considered one of the diet teas. Due to the high presence of theophylline, this delicious tea helps you burn fat effectively and faster. Being a black tea, it has a higher caffeine amount which can aid you to lose weight by accelerating your metabolism.

Cancer Free
Drink a cup of this tea from Tibet and savor its powerful antioxidants working inside you. The catechins, polyphenols and vitamins present in this beverage prevent free radicals from attacking, thus protecting you against cancer. They are able to absorb radioactivity, which may harm the human body.

Reduces Hypertension and Hyperglycemia
Worried about your blood pressure, cholesterol or sugar levels? This may be a wise choice for you. Tibetan tea properties, namely its catechins and polyphenols, help reduce the amount of triglyceride, thus protecting your heart. It also lowers LDL cholesterol and improves the ratio between good (HDL) cholesterol and bad cholesterol (LDL). It also prevents blood clot formation, which decreases the risk of cardiovascular diseases, such as strokes or heart attacks.