Brick tea, also known as green brick tea or compressed tea (commonly called green brick tea), as the name suggests, is a type of tea pressed into a brick-like shape. It is a representative form of compressed tea, typically made from tea leaves, stems, and sometimes tea dust pressed into blocks. Based on raw materials and production techniques, brick tea can be categorized into several types, such as green brick tea, rice brick tea, dark brick tea, patterned brick tea, Fu brick tea, and Kang brick tea. All brick teas are steam-pressed into shape, but the molding methods vary. For example, green brick tea, rice brick tea, dark brick tea, patterned brick tea, and Fu brick tea are machine-pressed, while Kang brick tea is shaped using a stick hammer.

Brick tea is primarily made from dark tea through high-temperature and high-pressure steam pressing, such as compressed tea and small square brick tea from Yunnan; Kang brick tea from Sichuan; green brick tea (also known as Dong tea) from Hubei; and dark brick tea, Fu brick tea, and patterned brick tea from Hunan. There is also red brick tea made from black tea as raw material, commonly known as rice brick tea.

All brick teas are steam-pressed into shape, but the molding methods vary. For instance, dark brick, patterned brick, Fu brick, green brick, and rice brick teas are machine-pressed, while Kang brick tea is shaped using a stick hammer. In the pressing technology of brick tea, steam-piling is a unique step in Fu brick tea production. Additionally, it involves a special process of encouraging the growth of yellow mold on the tea, commonly known as "golden flower." Fu brick tea with more golden-yellow mold flowers is considered superior, as a higher number of mold flowers indicates better quality.