Barley tea (mugicha)

[Hiroyuki]

I always drink it in Korean restaurants too, but I have to confess that I don't really like it - it tastes like burned rice to me (this is at all restaurants, not just one particular one).  Does anybody else taste this? Or is it just me?  What is it supposed to taste like?

I forgot to respond to this.

I think that if you dilute your barley tea with water (I wonder if you can do this at a restaurant, though), it won't taste like that.

I have something to confess - I often dilute kou-rui shouchu (pure, odorless distilled spirit) with barley tea. This, I think, is one of the cheapest way to get drunk - 50 yen per 300-ml cup. Don't call me stingy.

[torakris]

I also have no clue about differeences in barley in Japan and Korea. Many of the "Korean" restaurants serve it but since this is Japan, I doubt it is the Korean variety.

All of my Korean friends though make the Japanese ones and I have never heard them complaining about a difference in taste......

[Kahrs]

I'm sorry, I have to reminisce... I first had Mugi-cha in Kyoto; I was staying at a an inn, and when I came back from my day (in August, so hot, so humid) and the innkeeper offered me a cold glass of Mugi-cha; on a semi-tropical day, could it be the most perfect iced-tea? On that day, I certainly thought so.

I have made it in the states --- as the previous authors have noted, it does go weird after a while. I just added lots... I bought mine in Edgewater, NJ where they also had bags. But I always prefer making a larger amount.

Now I'm thirsty.

[Hiroyuki]

Great post. We DO need chilled barley tea (and watermelons) to survive the hot and humid summer in Japan. It's been so hot and humid for these couple of days. The rainy season seems to have gone somewhere!

[alacarte]

Ito-En distributes an iced barley tea called Green Genmai.

[Bux]

My experience is similar to Kahrs'. We were served cold mugicha on entering a ryokan on a hot day. Up until that time, we'd always been served hot green tea upon checking into a Japanese inn. We found the mugicha very refreshing.

[Hiroyuki]

Some people add sugar and others add salt!

Hiroyuki, I'm shocked! I'm actually more shocked by that than by the idea of making a hole in an anpan and squeezing mayonnaise into it, but that's a whole nother story.

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I myself have never sweetened my barely tea, but I do hear of people who do.

But, exactly how many people add sugar to their barely tea? You can find an answer by clicking this.

First, you will see a map of Japan where each prefecture is colored.

Color legend:

Dark brown: A considerable number of people add sugar.

Brown: A few people.

Light brown: Few people.

White: Absolutely no people.

You can also see the percentage of those people in a specific prefecture: First click the area containing the prefecture of interest, and a map of the area appears. Then, click that prefecture, and a pie chart appears indicating the percentage of people who add sugar (brown sector) and that of people who do not (white sector).

[chamekke]

I'm coming in very late to this thread... but wanted to comment that for whatever reason, barley tea (mugicha) seems to be naturally - if very slightly - sweet. I've never felt the need to add any sweetener whatsoever. I just steep it, chill it, and voila... the perfect hot-weather drink. I go through gallons of it every summer.

[Okbrewer]

Just found this discussion. Guess what!? Making barley tea is almost like the first step in making beer! Instead of boiling the barley for tea, it would be steeped at lower temps. for beer. But the good news, if you are having trouble finding roast barley for tea, go to your local home beer making store! You will find roast barley in many stages of roastiness!

Bob R in OKC

[MomOfLittleFoodies]

I like mugi-cha. I first had it at the Obon carnival that the Buddhist temple that my mother's family goes to has every summer.

I particularly like it during the warmest part of the summer, those days when a sweet beverage is just too much.

[SheenaGreena]

I like both boricha and oksusu cha (almost the same flavour). I like it ice cold in the summer and served steaming hot in the winter time. Tea is especially good after you eat a spicy meal or eat pork for dinner, because it cleanses your body. I feel like the tea makes the meal "less oily."

I just bought a 2 lb bag of boricha for $2.59. I also like to boil it for 3 mins and then throw it into a french press so it separates all the little grains, etc.

[Richard Kilgore]

I picked up a bag of roasted barley at the Super H-Mart this week and tried making mugicha for the first time. I first made a half liter just to see. Liked it iced so made two liters. So far I enjoy it better than the Roasted corn tea I also tried making this week.

Thanks for all the brewing tips. I sometimes, but not usually, use sugar in black tea iced, but can't imagine using sugar in iced barley tea. It has just a hint of natural sweetness.

[Yajna Patni]

Iced Mugicha is excellent! and very cooling. An old English cooling drink is barley water, which is made with unroasted barley, and ayurveda gives cooling properties to barley.

works for me!

[Richard Kilgore]

Iced Mugicha is excellent! and very cooling. An old English cooling drink is barley water, which is made with unroasted barley, and ayurveda gives cooling properties to barley.

works for me!

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It is really interesting, the rather ancient use of barley and other grains to make tea in many cultures around the world. And eG member Tony Bolton mentioned to me that Robinson's Barley Water is the official drink of Wimbeldon.