Korean drinks and "teas"

[JasonTrue]

I am fond of various Korean drinks popularly served either as after-dinner refreshments or for folk medicinal purposes.

• yuja-cha (yuzu "tea") 유자차, made with yuzu marmalade or slices of yuzu and honey
  
• su jeong gwa (a.k.a. soo jeong gwa) 수정과, made with ginger, cinnamon and persimmons
  
• shikhae (a.k.a. sikhae) 식해, made with malt-fermented rice
  
• daechucha 대추차, (natsume-cha for Japanese, who tend to find the idea bewildering), or jujube tea; I like this in Korean tea shops but not so much if sold in jars.
  
• omija-cha 오미자차, which is a berry with :five flavors"
  

I'll make a lot of these this winter and post as I go.

Here's my first for the season:

omija-cha

Omija-cha (occasionally romanized without the hyphen, i.e. omijacha) is a “tea” made from the fruits of something occasionally translated as magnolia vine, or alternately as schizandra berry.

It takes me about an hour or so of simmering the very expensive dried berries to get the right level of flavor intensity, and I’m sure you could find someone who tells you it needs to be done much longer. I rarely make it, but I thought it would be a bit refreshing and maybe keep a little cold from relapsing. It's fairly heavily sweetened. I served it cold, but it may be served hot.

Omija-cha is often a bit darker than this photo, but I might have been stingy with the berries this time. The name refers to the “five flavors” of the berries, the classic five flavors of Chinese cuisine: sweet, sour, salty, bitter, pungent. I like it, but I’m sure it’s an acquired taste. In Seoul I once ordered it while sitting alone at an art gallery/cafe, and I’m sure the young girl at the counter was a bit perplexed, though she understood my awful Korean.

Edited November 4, 2005 by JasonTrue (log)

[Chris Amirault]

Lots of other great threads on that subject here thanks to melonpan, including eumnyosu korean beverages and this amazing thread on shikhye.

Mmmmmmmmm....... Shikhye..........

[torakris]

Yuja-cha (called yuzu-cha in Japanese) is one of my favorites in the cold months and one of the few drinks that I drink hot.

[halalsushi]

I drank a very delicious Korean black soy bean milk with sesame in Koreatown. I'm not sure of its name but it was really yummy.

[_john]

I drink poricha/boricha (roast barley and corn tea) every day, I love the stuff. I buy it in a big plastic bag of it in korea town from a small shop and the lady says "you like poricha?" every time I buy it . I think she is shocked at how often I buy it, It is a big bag after all.

The taste is very unique, I would liken it to chicory. You can drink it cold or hot but it is especially refreshing when you drink it cold on a hot day.

does anyone know if there is a different word for poricha that is made with only roasted barley?

[bottomlesspit]

does anyone know if there is a different word for poricha that is made with only roasted barley?

Actually, bori chah is the tea made with only barley, and oksoosoo cha is that made with only corn. (Bori: barley, oksoosoo: corn)

I'm guessing the compound would be bori oksoosoo cha. Funny that as many times as I've had the combined tea, I've heard it referred to as one or the other, but not both.

[maxmillan]

does anyone know if there is a different word for poricha that is made with only roasted barley?

Actually, bori chah is the tea made with only barley, and oksoosoo cha is that made with only corn. (Bori: barley, oksoosoo: corn)

I'm guessing the compound would be bori oksoosoo cha. Funny that as many times as I've had the combined tea, I've heard it referred to as one or the other, but not both.

←

I've started drinking barley tea because I'm to avoid caffeine. I don't know much about it but it was delicious when I had it in the restaurant.

Does anyone know what the process is for making this tea (sun-dried, chemical treated, etc) and what nutrients are in barley tea? I hope there is no caffeine. I buy it in the tea bag form. Also, can anyone recommend a good brand that I may find in Vancouver, BC Canada? We have small pockets of Korean shops here and I can try looking there upon your suggestions.

Thanks!

[jschyun]

I drank a very delicious Korean black soy bean milk with sesame in Koreatown.  I'm not sure of its name but it was really yummy.

←

Oh yeah, I drink this all the time. It's supposed to be really good for calcium but it also tastes great, creamy sweet and rich.

[torakris]

does anyone know if there is a different word for poricha that is made with only roasted barley?

Actually, bori chah is the tea made with only barley, and oksoosoo cha is that made with only corn. (Bori: barley, oksoosoo: corn)

I'm guessing the compound would be bori oksoosoo cha. Funny that as many times as I've had the combined tea, I've heard it referred to as one or the other, but not both.

←

I've started drinking barley tea because I'm to avoid caffeine. I don't know much about it but it was delicious when I had it in the restaurant.

Does anyone know what the process is for making this tea (sun-dried, chemical treated, etc) and what nutrients are in barley tea? I hope there is no caffeine. I buy it in the tea bag form. Also, can anyone recommend a good brand that I may find in Vancouver, BC Canada? We have small pockets of Korean shops here and I can try looking there upon your suggestions.

Thanks!

←

There is no caffeine in bori-cha. According to this site:

Researchers at such leading universities as the University of California at Davis and George Washington University have found that barley grass contains the potent antioxidants superoxide dismutase, 2"-O-glycosylisovitexin (2"-O-GIV) and vitamin E succinate. Each of these important phyto-chemicals have been shown to help prevent lipid peroxidation caused by free-radicals.

As to specific brands, I am not familar with Korean ones but you might also find the Japanese brands as well. In Japanese it is called mugi-cha.

The tea bags are nice and I admit to using them myself but the versions made by boiling the roasted barley yourself are so much better.

As to how it is treated/roasted, in Japan there are a couple ways and it can be quite obvious in the price of the tea. Some information can be found here:

Variances in grain quality and the roasting technique give rise to a great many kinds of mugi-cha. Barley is roasted in three stages. A short pan roast first for about 90 seconds is followed by a much heavier roasting at 200 to 240 deg. C for 5 minutes. Stronger oven roasting follows which may last for up to one hour. Several roasting techniques are in common use; sand roasting, hot-air roasting, drum and direct-fire roasting all find specialist uses.

[Soup]

Every Oct. I make a batch of Hyun Mee Cha. Hyun Mee is brown rice. I basically toast the brown rice on the stove top. Once toasted, I store in air tight jar and use for the winter.

To make the tea, boil water. When boiling shut the heat off, add a handful and let sit for 15 to 30 minutes. You get a very nice light brown tea. Really good.