It was such a joy to return to India after not traveling so long due to Covid. This time I was primarily along the border of West Bengal, Sikkim and Nepal. It's a gorgeous region, full of interesting flora and fauna. I was hiking in the mountains there and visited farms, too.

I visited a yak farm and was able to have yak milk, yak butter, and yak ghee. The yak looks like a sweet cow with a fluffy tail. As soon as I had the yak ghee, the entrepreneur in me wanted to bring back it back for our customers in the U.S. But then I thought... you know, some things need to be enjoyed where they are from, locally. It’s not sustainable to offer this kind of product on a large scale. There are very few yaks, they roam a large piece of land. To make yak ghee commercially would not be sustainable to the forests which are already at risk. Also, now you have a reason to visit this part of the world. :)

Adding yak ghee to tea is actually a long tradition for these regions of Nepal, Tibet, and India, and it predates "butter coffee" by several centuries. It was usually made from strong tea, barley, and yak ghee.

I was also able to visit Darjeeling, the region where we source our Darjeeling Tea. I enjoyed having tea right at the source from the local gardens!

I also visited a Black Cardamom farm, and I was fortunate enough to arrive on the day they were harvesting. I got to take part in the harvest and taste the fresh cardamom fruits before they are smoked and dried. The fresh fruit is very sour and pungent. They grow in pods in a bunch. The bunches are harvested, and then the pods separated and set on top of a wood-fired oven on low heat for up to 48 hours to dry. This is how it acquires that unique smoky flavor. That particular day was very wet, and the ground was muddy; I fell and ruined my pants and shoes. We all had a good laugh, and the family was kind enough to lend me some boots so I could continue. :)

One of my favorite experiences on this trip was my visit to an ancient Haritaki farm, where I got to try the fresh fruit and even climb the trees! The family that lives and works on this farm has owned it for multiple generations, and some of these trees are 300-400 years old. The fresh haritaki fruit has a very complex taste, and I'm excited to announce that we will soon be carrying Haritaki Powder in our store.

The family that hosted me served a gorgeous meal made from 95% local ingredients, from rice to vegetables to ghee to salad to roti... It was delicious!