Barley Tea: Another Way to Improve Health

Green tea, chai tea and black tea are fine, but there is nothing like a nice tall glass of refreshing barley tea. It has a mild, slightly nutty flavor that doesn't require any sugar or lemon, and it has no caffeine. It is often served over ice, and goes well with any type of food.

Barley tea, or mugicha, has been in Japan longer than lemonade has been in the United States. It is a great way to cool off and relax on a hot summer day. It is also good for relief of that "I can't believe I ate the whole thing" feeling. It is a natural antacid.

Barley tea is also served hot, and is good for temporary relief of common cold symptoms. It is made from roasted barley, a grain that is good for cleansing the body, increasing the fluidity of blood and lowering cholesterol levels. It provides the same soothing and comforting feeling on cold winter days as a lot of other types of tea.

Some coffee drinkers say that barley tea has a bit of a coffee flavor in it. Interestingly, tea drinkers who are not coffee fans don't tend to think it does.

Any Asian supermarket should have barley tea in bags. If there isn't one nearby that does, it can be ordered trough Amazon or another source. Shipping costs vary. With many brands, boiled water is not necessary for making iced tea. The bags should steep in a pitcher of cold water until the desired strength is reached, a few hours or overnight. For hot tea, a few minutes in boiled water should be enough.

Another way to make barley tea is from scratch, roasting the barley in the oven or in a skillet and then boiling it and straining it. This takes more time to prepare, but it can be turned into iced tea without steeping for more than a few minutes.

Mugicha is available in Japan in single serving size cans. It can be found in machines that are like soft drink machines. It beats colas and un-colas hands down for quenching thirst. It is also better for teeth, since it won't cause cavities, and better for weight control, since it has no calories.

With a little bit of luck and a little bit of marketing, maybe barley tea will catch on in the United States just like bottled water did.