To the Tibetans, tea is a beverage that is just like coffee
to the westerners -- a wake-up and a shake-up drink that keeps
almost everyone sound and safe.
In Tibet no morning can pass without drinking
some tea, usually the sweet tea; and also in Tibet no meal
can be complete without some tea, almost all the time the
Tibetan buttered tea.
The sweet tea, prepared by mixing milk and
sugar with the juice from fully boiled fermented tea leaves,
serves as the refreshener.
Town folks prefer to go to a tea house before
going to work for the rest of their day. Tea houses sometimes
stand as alternative places to find the ones who are otherwise
expected in their workplace in the morning and in the early
afternoon.
The Tibetan buttered tea is prepared by mixing
butter and salt with the juice from fully boiled fermented
tea leaves. Before serving, the mixture has to be further
blended in a special blender.
More often than not, a slim wooden cylinder
is used for the blending. After the mixture is put in the
cylinder, a piston is used to push and pull inside the cylinder.
With the passing of the mixture through the slit between the
piston and the cylinder, the mixture of butter, salt and tea
is forcefully and thoroughly blended.
In Tibet, tea, either sweet tea or Tibetan
buttered tea, is served in small or large thermo flasks, in
that both are of their best smack when served hot.
The local habit of drinking tea has to do with
the local food composition. The Tibetans eat lots of meat
of yak and goat. The strong buttered tea not only helps to
keep the body warm but also helps to promote the digestion
of the meat that is taken almost three meals a day and 365
days a year.
Local sayings have it that the others
cannot do without salt whereas the Tibetans cannot do without
either salt or tea.
