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Nepalese · Bhutanese

Po cha (Tibetan butter tea)

Vegetarian

བོད་ཇ · bö ja / po cha

Long-boiled black tea churned with butter, milk and salt into a rich, savoury, soup-like drink, sipped throughout the day on the Tibetan Plateau and across the Himalaya.

Po cha (Tibetan butter tea) is a Nepalese hot drink from China, ready in about 17 minutes and made with black tea leaves and butter. It serves 3 and is rated easy to cook.

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Prep
2 min
Cook
15 min
Total
17 min
Serves
3
Level
Easy
Calories
97

Ingredients

3 cups

Equipment

Method

  1. Step 1

    Bring the water to the boil, add the tea and boil gently for 10–15 minutes until very dark and reduced to about 500 ml. (Traditionally a concentrate is boiled for much longer and kept to hand.)

  2. Step 2

    Strain the tea, return it to the pan with the milk (opens in a new tab) and salt, and heat until steaming.

    Liquid being strained through a sieve
    How it looks · Photo: Katerina Holmes on Pexels

  3. Step 3

    Pour into a blender (opens in a new tab) with the butter (opens in a new tab), or use a stick blender in a tall jug, and blend for 30–60 seconds until fully emulsified, pale and frothy. Traditionally this is done in a wooden churn (chandong).

    Food safety: Fill a blender no more than half full with hot liquid, vent the lid and cover it with a towel.

  4. Step 4

    Serve hot in small bowls, topping up guests' cups often.

      A finished dish being plated
      How it looks · Photo: Willians Huerta on Pexels

    About this dish

    Origin
    Tibet and the wider Tibetan Plateau, China · Well documentedTraditional to Tibetan communities; also drunk in Bhutan and highland Nepal. Ladakh's gur-gur cha is a closely related regional version.Also popular in Nepal, BhutanMore food from China
    Dish
    Breakfast · Snack · Hot drinks
    Cooking method
    Boiled, Blended
    Taste
    salty, buttery, rich, savoury
    Diet
    Vegetarian (lacto-ovo) · No gluten ingredients · No nut ingredients · Keto-style · Low-carb
    All labelsVegetarian (lacto-ovo) · Eggetarian · Lacto-vegetarian · Pescatarian · Flexitarian-friendly · Whole-food focused · No gluten ingredients · Egg-free · No nut ingredients · No added sugar · Alcohol-free · Pork-free · Beef-free · Keto-style · Low-carb
    Worked out from the ingredients. How labels work
    Cook more with
    Black tea leaves · Butter · Milk
    Techniques
    Boiling · Wet grinding · Reduction · Emulsification

    Allergens

    • Contains: Milkfrom butter, milk

    Based on typical versions of these ingredients and not verified allergen-free. Brands differ and cross-contact happens, so always check labels. For severe allergies, follow your clinician’s advice.

    Nutrition

    97 kcal per serving

    Estimated

    1 serving ≈ 302 g · recipe makes 3

    Where the energy comes from

    • Protein 6%
    • Carbohydrate 8%
    • Fat 86%
    Nutrition per serving and per 100 g
    NutrientPer servingPer 100 g*
    Energy97 kcal32 kcal
    Protein1.4 g0.5 g
    Carbohydrate2 g0.7 g
    Net carbohydrate2 g0.7 g
    Sugars2.1 g0.7 g
    Added sugars0 g0 g
    Fibre0 g0 g
    Fat9.5 g3.1 g
    Saturated fat5.9 g2 g
    Trans fat——
    Cholesterol26 mg8 mg
    Sodium475 mg157 mg
    Salt equivalent1.2 g0.4 g
    Vitamins & minerals per serving
    Potassium
    57 mg
    Calcium
    74 mg
    Iron
    0 mg
    Magnesium
    9 mg
    Vitamin A (RAE)
    87 µg
    Vitamin C
    0 mg
    Vitamin D
    0.5 µg
    Vitamin B12
    0.2 µg
    Folate (DFE)
    2 µg

    How these numbers were made

    • Calculated from USDA FoodData Central (SR Legacy) per-100 g values and the listed quantities.
    • *Per 100 g of combined raw ingredients; the cooked dish may weigh more or less.
    • Not counted (tiny amounts or “to taste”): black tea leaves.
    • “—” means the value isn’t known for enough of the ingredients; it is never zero by default.
    • Values are estimates for guidance, not for medical dosing. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. FoodData Central, 2019. fdc.nal.usda.gov.

    Good to know

    Tips

    • The churning matters: unblended, the butter just floats as an oily layer.

    Common mistakes

    • Letting the tea go cold before churning — the butter will not emulsify and floats in a greasy layer.

    Serve with

    • With tsampa (roasted barley flour), which is often mixed into the tea to make a dough.

    Food safety

    • Very hot drinks (above about 65 °C) are classed by the WHO's cancer agency as probably carcinogenic to the oesophagus; let them cool a little before sipping.

    Storage

    • Drink fresh; the strong tea concentrate (before butter and milk) keeps 2–3 days in the fridge.

    Variations

    • Suja (Bhutan): The Bhutanese version, often made with more milk.

    Original editorial recipe · FriendsPantry editorial · Not yet independently reviewed · Added · Updated

    Recipe DNA

    How this dish is built

    Customise in Sip & Blend

    Grouped by each ingredient’s role in the dish. Each band’s width is its share of the dish by weight. Choose a component to see what it does.

    What the dish is built around

    Main ingredient

    Used in steps 2, 3

    Less sweet, dairy-free, caffeine-free or for more people — the original stays as it is.

    Customise in Sip & Blend

    Reviews & corrections

    Reviews come from signed-in cooks and appear after a moderator checks them. We never show made-up ratings.

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