Tea bricks or compressed tea are blocks of whole or finely ground tea leaves that have been packed in molds and pressed into block form. This is the most commonly produced and used form of tea in ancient China prior to the Ming Dynasty. Although tea bricks are less commonly produced in modern times, some teas such as pu-erh is still commonly found in bricks, discs and other pressed forms. Tea bricks can be made into beverages or eaten as a source of food, and were also used in the past as a form of currency.

In ancient China, compressed teas were usually made with thoroughly dried and ground tea leaves that are pressed into various bricks or other shapes, though partially dried and whole leaves were also used in producing this form of tea as well. Some tea bricks were also mixed with binding agents such as blood or manure in order to even better preserve their form such that they could withstand physical use as currency. Newly formed tea bricks are then left to cure, dry, and age prior to selling or traded as is. Teas bricks were preferred in trade prior to the 19th century Asia since they were more compact than loose leaf tea and were also less susceptible to physical damage incurred through transportation over land by caravans on the Ancient tea route.

Due to the high value of tea in many parts of Asia, tea bricks were used as a form of currency throughout China, Tibet, Mongolia, and Central Asia. This is quite similar to use of Salt bricks as currency in parts of Africa. Tea bricks were in fact the preferred form of currency over metallic coins for the nomads of Mongolia and Siberia. The tea could not only be used as money and eaten as food in times of hunger but also brewed as allegedly beneficial medicine for treating coughs and colds. Up until World War II, tea bricks were still used as a form of edible currency in Siberia.

Tea brick. (2006, November 1). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 17:08, November 1, 2006, from http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Tea_brick&oldid=85030153