I experimented with charcoal a little bit in highschool with the materials that were available to us through the art class. This Christmas I was lucky enough to receive two charcoal sets for Christmas. (My favorite gifts this year!) This past week I broke one of the sets out to do some drawing.
I would totally recommend the charcoal sets and the pressed paper I used... as would my cat. You can find the Prismacolor Premier charcoal and paper on Amazon.