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Bhutan - Tea Leaves & Friends

I claim no mastery or erudition on the topic of Bhutanese tea.  Our good friends, however, have provided extremely valuable information for those who want to start exploring this fantastic ta origin.  Thank you to old friends M. Lhamo, D. Pelden, L. Choeda, J. Lophyal, P. Tshomo and Dawa for their guidance in exploring Bhutan’s wonderful tea culture!

Any errors in conveying Bhutanese tea traditions are mine alone.

Thank you also to old friends who joined the adventure: Miyu and Jared (from Jagasilk Tea) and Jeremy (from our Leaf & Steel project).






Where to Start:


It’s fair to say that Bhutanese tea culture is an extension of Tibet’s.  There are records of tea consumption as far back as the 7th century CE.  It was, however, the 13th century when the consumption of buttered tea became widespread.  


If you want to get an idea of why, try a hot bowl of tea with rich butter and a pinch of salt on a freezing morning at high altitude.  As soon as that brew hits your stomach, you feel ready to enjoy the outdoors!


For centuries, the tea supplied to the Tibetan Plateau came primarily from the Chinese provinces of Yunnan, Sichuan, and Hunan.  In the 1900’s,  as the current borders of the Himalaya’s modern states solidified, Bhutan found itself isolated from the old trade routes; with fewer Chinese tea bricks in their homes, Bhutanese people started producing their own tea.


In upcoming chapters of this Bhutanese tea series, we will explore:

  • How Bhutanese people created ‘tea’ both from Camellia sinensis and other plant species available in the highlands.

  • The process to ferment and handcraft Bhutanese dark tea.  In Bhutan, ask for ཇ་ཨམ། (Ja Aum), or tea leaves.

  • The preparation of ཇ་ཐང། (Ja Thang):  the thirst quenching tea soup, involving just leaves and water.

  • བསྲུ་ཇ། (Su Ja), the nourishing ‘butter tea’ that most everyone enjoys.  We will cover both the ancestral method (with a butter churner) and a humble branch; this last method is called ཁ་ཇ། (Kha-Ja)

  • ཨོ་ཇ (O Ja), the milk tea which may also include butter and is occasionally sweetened.

  • Modern types of Bhutanese tea, including green, black and oolong.







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