Roasted barley tea, the ubiquitous caffeine-free Japanese summer drink served ice-cold from a pitcher in nearly every household. Whole roasted barley grains are steeped in water to make a clear amber infusion with a toasty, nutty, faintly bitter flavor and no tea leaves at all.
A traditional Japanese infusion of roasted barley enjoyed since the Heian period and especially as a cooling drink in summer; it contains no caffeine and is safe for children.
Cold and clean, it tastes of toasted grain and roasted nuts with a whisper of bitterness and a touch of natural sweetness. Utterly refreshing and never astringent, it slips down easily in summer heat and quenches thirst better than water alone.
Roasting the barley develops toasty, nutty flavor compounds through the Maillard reaction and pyrolysis, which then steep out into water. Because barley has no tea leaves, the infusion carries no caffeine and only gentle, non-astringent bitterness.
Variations
cold-brew mugicha, blended with roasted corn, with a splash of milk, hot mugicha in winter
On the Palate
Where Mugicha sits in the Japanese flavor cloud
Ingredients
Serves 6How it's made
8 steps · 5 min
- 11 min
Measure out whole roasted barley grains or use a barley tea bag.
- 23 min
For the hot method, bring water to a boil in a kettle.
- 35 min
Add the barley and simmer for several minutes to extract color and flavor.
- 410 min
Turn off the heat and let it steep until deeply amber.
Watch outLet the barley steep until the water goes deep amber — too pale and the brew tastes thin and watery instead of toasty.
- 51 min
Strain out the barley grains or remove the bag.
- 61 min
For the cold method, drop a bag into a pitcher of cold water instead.
- 7120 min
Refrigerate the pitcher for one to two hours to infuse.
- 81 min
Serve well chilled over ice.
