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Roasted barley tea is a caffeine-free tea made from barley. In Japan, it is called mugi-cha and cold mugi-cha is popular summer drink here.

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It tastes like non-bitter weak coffee because it’s roasted.

Unlike black tea, barley tea is mostly had straight but some people add sugar to it.

Below are the variations of barley tea.

-Honey
Makes the tea mild.

-Milk and Sugar = Mug-icha Latte!
Make thick barley tea and add sugar and milk. It tastes like thin café latte.

-Black Beans
Roast some black beans and make barley tea with the beans, which make the scent richer. In Japan, you can find barley teabags that already have roasted black beans in them.

-Pepper Mint
Very refreshing! No more air conditioner!

-Ginger
It’s perfect to drink when you have a cold.

-Lemon and Syrup
For crisp and clean taste.

–Umeboshi (dried ume plum)
It’s a prevention of heat stroke.

“Umeboshi”

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Again, roasted barley tea is caffeine free, so if you watch intake of caffeine, why don’t you switch your regular drink to barley tea and try different variations? The tea bags of roasted barley tea may be available at oriental markets in your town.

This is JAPAN Style!