Among the Herdsmen

Among the Herdsmen

For herding peoples, whose traditional diet was meat and milk products, tea has been a necessity for centuries as an aid to digestion and a source of Vitamin C. For the Tibetan herdsman, butter tea is more than just a beverage, it is often a way of eating a meal. Preparing it is one of the daily household chores.

First a piece of brick tea is ground up. Then it is boiled a few minutes in a kettle of water and the leaves are strained off. The liquid is poured into a small tea churn and mixed thoroughly with butter and salt. Then the mixture is transferred to a kettle where it is kept warm, ready to drink at any time. Often a handful of ground tsamba (highland barley) is thrown in to make a gruel.

Mongolian milk tea begins the same way, with grinding a piece from a brick of green tea. Then the leaves are either dropped into boiling water or into cool water which is brought to a boil. After the tea has cooked a few minutes at low heat, milk and salt are added. In Xingjian and Qinghai in the far west the milk is cooked with the tea.

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