Since tea has become a staple beverage throughout the world, it’s difficult to imagine a time in history when it originated in a small region in China, most likely the southern Yunnan province.
In ancient China, tea was transported along a network of mule caravan paths in the mountainous regions of the Yunnan Province. From here, it spread across China and Asia. While contemporary tea drinkers typically associate tea in loose leaf form, this was not the preferred form along the caravan paths.
It was common practice in the past to chop or pulverize the tea and form it into bricks. The tea was first steamed and then formed inside a press. These bricks were compact and less susceptible to damage during a rugged journey.
The tea bricks were highly valued in many parts of Asia, and even took the form of currency from the 9th to 20th century in China, Mongolia, Siberia, Tibet, Turkmenistan and Russia.. This edible currency could be used as money, or be broken into pieces, pulverized, and whisked into a beverage. The tea was also mixed with flour and butter for eating.
A tea brick was stamped depending on its grade, and was distinguished by its color, fermentation, and proportion of wood to leaf. The highest quality was dark brown and contained almost no wood. The poorest quality bricks were yellow, and contained twigs, wood shavings, and even soot. The bricks might also have contained beef blood, dung, or flour as a binding agent. The bricks were sometimes precut into sections like a chocolate bar to facilitate even breaking for smaller payments. The following image is an example of a precut brick:
While no longer a form of currency, tea bricks are still produced today for drinking or as novelty items. Pu-erh, also known as post-fermented teas are pressed into disk, nest, brick, square, mushroom, or melon shapes.