Tea was made into tea bricks and used in many ways 500 years ago. In terms of value, tea bricks were worth about one dollar each, but the value varied based on size, quality and distance it has to travel from the plant. To have a significant amount of money many people would have to carry it. Tea was grown and molded into bricks in Southern China to be used in China, Mongolia, Russia, Siberia, Turkmenistan and parts of Europe from the 800s to the 1900s. At that time, the currency was used for money and to flavor a drink or cure an illness. It was used as a currency more than a drink or medicine. Obviously, the bricks made of just tea leaves are for flavoring, but the bricks are also made from leaves stalks of the plant, ox blood (to keep it from falling apart) and aromatic herbs. Tea is still used today in beverages but it is certainly is not a form of currency.
Facts and picture credit: https://www.mightyleaf.com/blog/history-of-tea/legacy-of-the-tea-brick.html
