page_title: Butter tea
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Butter tea / History
caption_attribution_description: English: Butter tea churns, Sera, TibetFrançais&#160;: Baratte pour préparer le thé au beurre, Séra, Tibet
context_page_description: Butter tea, also known as po cha, cha süma, Mandarin Chinese: sūyóu chá or gur gur cha in the Ladakhi language, is a drink of the people in the Himalayan regions of Nepal, Bhutan, India and Tibet and other Western regions of modern-day People's Republic of China. Traditionally, it is made from tea leaves, yak butter, water, and salt, although butter made from cow's milk is increasingly used, given its wider availability and lower cost.
  Butter tea likely originated in the Himalayan region between Greater Tibet and the Indian subcontinent.
context_section_description: The history of tea in Tibet dates back to the 7th century during the Tang dynasty. However, it did not reach its nearly universal status until about the 13th century, the time of the Sakya hierarchy and the Phagmodu kings.
caption: Butter tea churns, Sera Monastery, Tibet.
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