On a silent, sacred dawn in the high Himalayas, inside a monastery, among the sounds of the gong, and chants of prayers, there is one much familiar sound - bubbling of tea.
A heavy iron kettle rests upon the monastery hearth. Outside, snow drapes the mountains in silence, broken only by the sigh of wind through fluttering prayer flags. Inside, the air is thick with the fragrance of dark, brick tea leaves, simmering until the water grows dense and earthy.
A monk, his maroon robes brushed with ash, lifts a wooden ladle and slides in generous lumps of golden ghee from the dri, a female yak, whose milk has sustained these valleys for centuries. A pinch of salt follows, sharp against the rising steam.
Then comes the heart of the ritual: the churn. Back and forth, the mixture is poured and beaten until it froths, the butter and tea joined in a thick, frothy, golden emulsion. The sound of the churn fills the stone hall, mingling with the low hum of chanting.
Outside, the mountains remain austere and unforgiving, but in this moment, within these walls, there is warmth, nourishment, and a timeless ritual carried in every bowl.
This brew, known as po cha, is a liquid meal that warms, fills, and anchors life in a landscape where food is sparse and cold is eternal.
In Harsh Winters, Butter Tea Is For Survival
Source: https://tasteofbhutan.com/the-traditional-bhutanese-tea-the-yak-butter-tea/
At 12,000 feet, where oxygen thins and the body burns energy at double speed, butter tea is not indulgence but necessity. It fuels tribes through hours of physical labour, fortifies herders traversing wind-swept pastures, and comforts families huddled in stone homes through the coldest months.
The Taste of the Himalayas
Source: https://sudhirtv.com/2013/10/14/postcard-from-tibet-drinking-yak-butter-tea/
To the uninitiated, the first sip can feel unfamiliar. It is salty, heavy, almost like a broth. But soon its genius is revealed: ghee coats the throat, lending stamina for journeys; tea’s tannins aid digestion; salt replenishes vital minerals. Po cha is not designed for fleeting pleasure. It is designed for endurance.
This tea even travels onto the plate. Tibet’s staple food, tsampa (roasted barley flour), is mixed with butter tea into a dough called pa, sustaining workers and wanderers alike.
Echoes in the Modern Cup
In recent years, a curious reinvention has arrived in global wellness circles: “butter coffee,” or “bulletproof coffee,” marketed as a hack for sharper focus and longer satiety. Yet those who trace food’s lineage will recognise the echo.
Long before modern day wellness gurus packaged butter and caffeine into a lifestyle trend, the Himalayas had already perfected the blend of butter and brew.
Why Add Ghee to Your Beverage?
Modern nutrition confirms what the mountains always knew. A spoon of ghee in your morning tea or coffee:
- Provides sustained energy without sugar crashes.
- Supports digestion and gut health with healthy fatty acids.
- Delivers fat-soluble vitamins (A, D, E, K).
- Lubricates joints, boosts immunity, and strengthens skin from within.
- Helps calm the nervous system, reducing fatigue and anxiety.
Bringing the Himalayan Ritual Home
In the plains, yak ghee is neither accessible nor easily digestible. But cow ghee, especially from Himalayan cows, offers a gentler alternative, carrying the same strength in a form suited for our bodies.
To begin integrating this healthy habit:
- Add 1 teaspoon of ghee to your morning coffee, tea, or warm water.
- Stir until melted and frothy.
- Increase gradually to 1 tablespoon if your body adapts well.
- Use it before work, meditation, or exercise for sustained focus and calm.
The Himalayas have long practiced what the modern world is only now rediscovering, longevity, vitality, and endurance as a way of life, not a “hack.” While others abandoned ghee for fleeting fads, mountain communities stayed true to food that was slow, seasonal, and pure. Where we chased convenience, the Himalayas simply continued living in harmony with nature.
Why Lahaul Organics is Your Best Himalayan Bet
If you want to bring the Himalayan way into your life, authenticity matters. Not all ghee carries this lineage. Lahaul Organics Himalayan Cow Ghee is:
- From free-grazing cows nourished by Himalayan pastures.
- Made in small kitchens, not factories, using the traditional bilona method.
- Free from preservatives, additives, or industrial shortcuts.
- Produced in limited seasonal batches, in rhythm with nature, not mass markets.
This is not ghee that arrives in ten minutes at your doorstep. It is slow, soulful food, the way it has always been. In a world obsessed with instant food and mass supply, this kind of ghee is not convenience, it is continuity.
When you taste it, you don’t just taste richness, you taste continuity, culture, and place.
Subscribe to Tradition
When bulletproof coffee or butter coffee enters Western diets as a “hack for energy,” it often loses the deeper context: po cha is not a gimmick. Tibetan ghee tea is a living heritage. And with every spoon of Himalayan ghee stirred into your cup, you are not adopting a trend. You are participating in a centuries-old dialogue between land, body, and spirit.
If you wish to make that dialogue part of your mornings, consider joining the Priority Access Plan for Lahaul Organics. This is an invitation here, a bridge from tradition into your daily ritual, if you choose authenticity over shortcuts.
With our Priority Access Plan, you can reserve your jars before they sell out, because in the Himalayas, food has always been prepared in harmony with seasons, not in mass production. Book your jar, before it runs out.
“Sip your ghee tea every day, not as a trend, but as a quiet return to the Himalayan wisdom that has sustained life for centuries.”
This is not ghee that arrives in ten minutes at your doorstep. It is slow, soulful food, the way it has always been. In a world obsessed with instant food and mass supply, this kind of ghee is not convenience, it is continuity.
When you taste it, you don’t just taste richness, you taste continuity, culture, and place.
