Tibet on the tip of the tongue - "butter tea"
Butter tea is a specialty drink in Tibet, China. Everyone has learned about it in textbooks, but we don't know the specific history of butter tea. Next, Xiaobian takes you to know more about it!
Butter tea is processed from ghee (butter extracted from yak milk) and strong tea. First, put the appropriate amount of ghee into a special barrel, accompanied by salt, and then inject the boiled strong tea juice, and repeatedly mix it with a wooden handle to dissolve the ghee and the tea juice into one, in a milky shape. It is often eaten as a staple food with rice dumplings.
Butter tea is a brick tea that is boiled in water, added ghee, placed in a slender wooden barrel, and whisked vigorously with a churning stick to make it an emulsion. Another way is to put the ghee and tea in a leather bag, tie the mouth of the bag tightly, and beat it hard with a wooden stick. Therefore, the configuration of butter tea is called "hitting" butter tea. It was a very laborious job for the hostess to entertain the guests and can now also be configured with an electric blender. Because it is easy to be hungry when drinking brick tea alone, it is necessary to add ghee or milk, Mongolians generally drink milk tea, Tibetan yaks produce small milk, and generally use butter tea to entertain guests.
Butter tea is a daily must-have drink for the Tibetan masses. It is necessary for life on the Tibetan plateau. Cold times can drive away the cold; Meat can be eaten to get greasy; When hungry, you can be hungry; Sleepiness can be relieved; When you are dozing off, you can also clear your mind. Tea contains vitamins that can alleviate the damage caused by the lack of vegetables in the plateau.
Tea tasting etiquette
1. When the guest is allowed to sit at the Tibetan square table, the host takes a wooden bowl (or teacup) and puts it in front of the guest.
2. The host or housewife lifts the butter teapot and shakes it a few times, pouring a full bowl of butter tea for the guests. When pouring tea, the teapot should be gently shaken several times, so that the tea oil is evenly proportioned, and the bottom of the pot cannot be higher than the table top to show respect for the guests. Just poured butter tea, guests do not drink immediately, first chat with the host.
3. When the host once again mentioned the butter teapot standing in front of the guests, the guests picked up the bowl, dipped a little tea with their ring finger, and sprinkled it three times, offering it to the gods, dragons and earth spirits. Gently blow in a ghee bowl, blow away the oil flowers floating on the tea, then take a sip and praise: "This butter tea is so good, the oil and the tea are inseparable." Drinking tea can not be too urgent too fast, can not drink to the end, leave about half, wait for the owner to add and then drink.
4, the guest put the bowl back on the table, the host to fill it again. In this way, while drinking and adding, it is generally auspicious to drink three bowls, and it is not drunk in one bite.
I believe that many friends have heard "Please drink a cup of butter tea", this song perfectly interprets the moving deeds of the People's Liberation Army in helping the Liberated Tibetan people to carry out democratic reforms, help the masses to cure diseases and spring ploughing. To show their gratitude, the enthusiastic Tibetan people invited Jinzhu Mami to drink a cup of hand-beaten butter tea. Become a classic in Tibetan songs.
China's culture is broad and profound, and there are many unknown customs and etiquette that are worth understanding and learning. To learn more, see you in our comments section!
Like me, please follow me!