Tea was once so valuable that it was pressed into bricks and used as currency.

Tea bricks, known as 'zhuan cha,' were used as a primary form of currency from the 9th century Tang Dynasty through the early 20th century. These bricks were made by steaming tea leaves and pressing them into wooden molds, often with intricate designs or seals indicating the manufacturer and value. This format made them far more durable and easier to transport across the Silk Road than loose leaves or fragile porcelain.In regions like Tibet, Mongolia, and Siberia, tea bricks were preferred over metallic coins because they had intrinsic value. If a traveler ran out of food, they could eat pieces of the brick for nutrition or brew it for caffeine. The value of a brick was standardized based on its weight and the quality of the leaves, with some bricks being worth as much as a horse or several sheep in high-altitude trade hubs.The use of tea as money was so widespread that the Russian government even accepted tea bricks for tax payments in certain territories until the late 1800s. During the Ming Dynasty, the 'Tea and Horse Bureau' was established specifically to regulate the exchange of Chinese tea for Tibetan horses, a trade vital for military defense. Even today, some nomadic groups in Central Asia continue to use tea bricks as a traditional gift and a store of wealth, symbolizing the long history of this edible currency.