It may be more of a time & place issue than anything else--what may be true for one small group (or even individual) may not be true for the larger group as a whole. Micro versus macro, as it were. One guy or small group of guys doesn't drink tea or coffee, and records the fact, versus the majority that do, but never write about it. To see the question clearly, one has to look at all the sources available. Just as today, there are plenty of people that seldom drink hot drinks, and plenty that do---more of an individual thing (I'm not much of a coffee drinker, but way she swills it I think my wife owns stock in Folger's :haha: ). But, generally speaking, it wasn't because the items weren't available (although time & place dictates that), if there's a demand, traders often did their best to fill it---as the ledgers indicate. The fun of research eh?
As far as brick tea goes, I too had read authors that state that brick tea was shipped to America---but I've yet to see any positive evidence of it. I've also seen some very knowledgable researchers state that only loose leaf tea was sent this way---Dr. James Hanson of the Museum of the Fur Trade, for instance, has done extensive research into this very question and his results indicate that it was only loose leaf tea shipped to America.
Rod
