Beverage In ancient China the use of tea bricks involved three separate steps: Toasting: A piece was broken from the tea brick and usually first toasted over a fire. This was probably done to sanitize the tea brick and destroy any mold or insect infestation that may have occurred when the bricks were stored uncovered in warehouses and storerooms or in covered jars underground. Toasting also imparted a pleasant flavor to the resulting beverage. Grinding: The toasted 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 drunk. In modern times bricks of pu-erh type teas are flaked, chipped, or broken and directly steeped after thorough rinsing; the process of toasting, grinding, and whisking to make tea from tea bricks has become uncommon. Tteokcha (), also called byeongcha (), was the most commonly produced and consumed type of tea in pre-modern Korea. Pressed tea made into the shape of yeopjeon, the coins with holes, was called doncha (), jeoncha (), or cheongtaejeon (). Borim-cha () or Borim-baengmo-cha (), named after its birthplace, the Borim temple in Jangheung, South Jeolla Province, is a popular tteokcha variety. 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 broken from tea bricks, and boiled overnight in water, sometimes with salt. The resulting concentrated tea infusion is then mixed with butter, cream or milk and a little salt to make butter tea, a staple of Tibetan cuisine. The tea mixed with tsampa is called Pah. Individual portions of the mixture are kneaded in a small bowl, 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 provides needed roughage normally lacking in the diet. Use as currency Due to the high value of tea in many parts of Asia, tea bricks were