Tea brick: Encyclopedia - Tea brick

Tea brick

Tea Bricks 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.Teas bricks can be made into beverages, eaten as a source of food, and was also used in the past as a form of currency.

Tea brick - Production

The tea leaves used in the production of tea bricks vary widely in quality, ranging from the use of twigs and mature leaves in coarse grade tea bricks, to the use of pekoes for the production of higher grade tea bricks. Harvested tea leaves are either partially dried and pressed into bricks as whole leaves or thoroughly dried and ground before being pressed into bricks. Newly formed tea bricks are then left to cure, dry, and age before being sold or traded. Teas bricks were preferred in trade prior to the 19th century Asia since they more compact than loose leaf tea and were also less susceptible to physical damage incurred through transportation over land by caravans. In the past, some tea bricks were 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. Tea bricks are still currently manufactured for drinking, as in Pu-erh teas, as well as for souvenirs and novelty items.

Tea brick - Consuming Tea Bricks

Due to their density and toughness tea bricks were traditionally consumed after they have been ground to a fine powder. The legacy of using of tea bricks in powdered form can be seen through modern Japanese tea powders as well as the pulverized tea leaves used in the Lei Cha(擂茶) eaten by the Hakka people.

Tea brick - Beverage

In ancient China the use of tea bricks involved 3 separate steps:

• Toasting: Tea bricks were usually first toasted over a fire. This was likely done to sanitize the tea brick and destroy any molds or insects. Such infestations likely occurred when the bricks were stored openly in warehouses and storerooms or in covered jars underground. Toasting also imparted a pleasant flavor to the resulting tea.
• Grinding: The tea brick was broken up and ground to a fine powder.
• Whisking: The powdered tea was mixed into hot water and frothed with a whisk before serving. The color and patterns formed by the powdered tea were enjoyed while the mixture was being imbibed.

In modern times, bricks of Pu-erh type teas are broken and directly steeped after thorough rinsing. The process of toasting, grinding or whisking to make tea from tea bricks is now uncommon and not generally practiced.

Tea brick - Food

Tea bricks are used as a form of food in parts of Central Asia and Tibet in the past as much as in modern times. In Tibet pieces of tea are shaved from tea bricks, and boiled overnight in water, sometimes with salt. The resulting concentrated tea infusion is then mixed with butter and roasted barley flour. When churned together and served as thin gruel through the addition of more tea, the mixture is called butter tea or po cha.

The same mixture with the addition of much less tea is called Tsampa. Individual portions of the mixture are kneaded in a small bowls, formed into balls and eaten. Some cities of the Fukui prefecture in Japan have food similar to tsampa, where concentrated tea is mixed with grain flour. However, the tea may or may not be made of tea bricks.

In parts of Mongolia and central Asia, a mixture of ground tea bricks, grain flours and boiling water is eaten directly. It has been suggested that tea eaten whole provide for needed roughage normally lacking in the diet.

Tea brick - Tea Bricks as Currency

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 infact the preferred form of currency over metallic coins for the nomads of Mongolia and Siberia. The tea can not only be used as money and eaten as food in times of hunger but also brewed as 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.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Tea brick", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki