🍽️ Sweet Milk Tea

Black tea with milk and sugar, Tibetan teahouse staple.

Sweet Milk Tea is an everyday drink in Lhasa's teahouses, Tibet, brewed from black tea, fresh milk and sugar into a smooth, sweet beverage close to a milk tea but richer and sweeter. The tea is first boiled until strong, then milk and sugar are added and repeatedly whisked until the tea and milk fuse into a fine, frothy brew. In Lhasa, teahouses are the living rooms of the street, where people meet, rest and catch up on news; a pot of sweet tea with Tibetan noodles or buns fills a whole morning. Warm, sweet and soothing, it is especially welcome on the plateau, and sharing a pot in a local teahouse is a classic way for visitors to feel ordinary Lhasa life.