30/08/2024
The word noon means 'salt' in several Indo-Aryan languages, such as Kashmiri, Bengali and Nepali.
"Tea pink" is also used as an adjective referencing the characteristic pink hue of the tea, such as to describe textiles.
Noon chai originates from the Himalayas, where salt was added as an electrolyte to prevent dehydration at high altitudes. It is also related to other Central Asian salty milk teas, such as the Uyghur tea etkanchay and the Mongolian tea suutei tsai.
Use of alkaline salts, like baking soda, in tea originated from the Tibetan plateau, where naturally-occurring deposits of soda were used to darken po cha. Later, in Ladakh, eastern Kashmir, hot spring soda crystals were used in local butter tea, or gur gur cha. Residents of Kashmir Valley adopted the practice from Ladakh, importing soda (called phul) from them and brick tea from Lhasa, then replacing yak butter with milk and cream to fit local tastes.
Teas of India, Tea Talks, Cocktail and Cultures.
