How much caffeine is in Tibetan Butter Tea?

Each 8 oz (240 ml) serving contains approximately 30 mg of caffeine. For comparison, a standard 8 oz cup of brewed drip coffee contains around 95 mg. Actual content varies with dose, water temperature, and contact time.

What temperature should I use for Tibetan Butter Tea?

Target 100°C (212°F). Below this range the cup tends toward sourness and thinness from under-extraction; above it, bitterness rises faster than sweetness.

How long should Tibetan Butter Tea be extracted?

Extract for 30:00-120:00 boiling using Boil then Churn, at a ratio of 40g/L brick tea, then 30g butter and salt churned in, prepared at Compressed Brick. Time and ratio move together: a heavier dose generally wants a shorter contact time.

Why does my Tibetan Butter Tea taste bitter?

Bitterness almost always indicates over-extraction. Shorten the contact time, lower the water temperature slightly, or use less leaf. Change one variable at a time so you can tell which one was responsible.

Who should avoid Tibetan Butter Tea?

Very high in saturated fat and salt by the standards of a hot drink. Contains dairy in the traditional preparation. It is the direct ancestor claimed by modern butter-coffee drinks, which use it as provenance for very different nutritional advice. This is general educational information, not medical advice — consult a qualified healthcare professional about your own circumstances.

Reviewed Aug 2026

Orthodox Black Tea · Tibet and the Himalaya

Tibetan Butter Tea

Name: How to Brew Tibetan Butter Tea
Prep time: 2 min
Cook time: 2 h
Total time: 2 h
Yield: 8 oz (240 ml)
Cuisine: Tibet and the Himalaya
Ingredients: 40g/L brick tea, then 30g butter and salt churned in of Tibetan Butter Tea; Filtered water heated to 100°C (212°F)

བོད་ཇ། (po cha)

Brick tea churned with butter and salt into a savoury, soup-like drink.

Compressed brick tea boiled for hours, then churned with butter — traditionally from yak milk — and salt until it emulsifies.

Sensory profile

Comparative scale

sweetnessVery low

acidityLow

bitternessModerate

bodyVery high

aromaModerate

You should taste

How it unfolds

Aroma → Palate → Finish

AromaBefore and as you sip

Dark Brick Tea

moderate aroma

PalateWhile it is in the mouth

Salted Butter

faint sweetness

FinishAfter you swallow

pronounced body

Where it sits

Stronger than 75 of the 345 other drinks in the catalogue, and weaker than 256.

That is 30 mg in a 8 oz (240 ml) serving — a concentration of 12.5 mg per 100 ml. The scale above ranks whole servings, and servings differ in size, so a larger drink can sit further right while being weaker cup for cup.

CupCura editorial estimate. No public food database has measured this preparation, so this figure is our own and is not independently sourced.

What people say

Reviews and photographs from people who have actually drunk this. Everything here has been read by a moderator before publication.

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Gear for this drink

Fellow Ode Brew Grinder Gen 2

Direct-drive motor with 64mm stainless steel flat burrs engineered specifically for pour-over, drip, and cold brew clarity.

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Orthodox Black Tea

Tibetan Butter Tea

Sensory profile

You should taste

How it unfolds

Where it sits

What people say

Fellow Ode Brew Grinder Gen 2

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