I really enjoyed that article. Documenting the entire process helps me understand what the final product should taste like. I love the smell of barley and had never considered roasting any. The fact that it apparently smells a bit like popcorn is pretty exciting.
I am growing buckwheat right now and have a small test plot of rice. I am hoping to be able to get meaningful yields after this first-year proof of concept dry run. I have already harvested enough buckwheat for a nice, steaming bowl of buckwheat. My rice is producing kernels now though I only have a few dozen plants. I am pretty excited about this.
I love how toasting something transforms the flavor profile and use that to enhance flavors of soups and other dishes. I toast pecans, walnuts, almonds, and some garden spices lightly and add them to spice mixes after grinding.
Thanks for this article.
There is also another article linked at the bottom about someone who drank a bottle of barley tea that had been left outside for months.
I've somehow not come across these preparations. I like barley tea and have made it via other coffee methods. (cold brew/french press.) So I guess espresso makes some sense.
(Also thank you doodlebugging for the other link. I love sora news. I don't know if it's the cadence or playful sincerity or what.)
YW. I got stuck for a bit there reading some of those articles. Very fun. Good writing about things that I need to know more about. Like you I love the sense that they are trying to have fun with their writing.
Koreans also say "tea" (차) to what supposed to be called infusion in English. Barley, brown rice, corn, Solomon's seal, and jack bean are common, but there are many more. I was confused when I was communicating about Korean tea at first in English. I introduced Korean teas, but for them they didn't have tea leaves thus not tea but infusion. If you don't know about brown rice green tea, I recommend it. It is literally a mix of green tea and brown rice. You should be able to find it in Japanese, Korean, or Chinese grocery stores.
I get high quality brown rice mix (genmaicha) in Japan directly from growers, which is packaged separately from the tea leaves. You can mix it as you use it and to the ratio that you like and which suits the tea. And adjust for less tea if wanting to avoid caffeine in the evening. (Try to avoid tea bag products, also - besides quality challenges, most tea bags have an enormous amount of microplastics.)
For anyone looking to try this - while they sell pre-bottled mugicha [1], I highly recommend making your own from tea bags [2].
It's incredibly easy to make - just add cold water and let it sit in the fridge for a couple hours. It also tastes so much better (in my opinion), is much cheaper, and is more environmentally friendly.
A big 2L thermos filled with mugicha and ice is a great way to stay cool in the summer.
It’s a well-known East Asian trope but I still reminisce about going to going to my grandmas house in summer and opening the fridge to drink some home made ice cold mugicha!
Interesting roasting process with high heat 2x for 1 minute. Quite different than say kilning pilsner malt at low heat for a much longer time. Sure speeds up production, I bet!
It's not the same, but I still remember the first time I was served genmai cha (roasted rice tea) at a sushi restaurant. I loved it and inquired, the server was kind enough to show me the actual tea bag — it was Yamamotoyama. Available lots of places in the US, but I used to buy it at a Japanese grocery store.
Paolo from Tokyo (https://www.youtube.com/@PaolofromTOKYO) has a ton of videos about various Japanese businesses, usually focused around the job of one person.
I really enjoyed that article. Documenting the entire process helps me understand what the final product should taste like. I love the smell of barley and had never considered roasting any. The fact that it apparently smells a bit like popcorn is pretty exciting.
I am growing buckwheat right now and have a small test plot of rice. I am hoping to be able to get meaningful yields after this first-year proof of concept dry run. I have already harvested enough buckwheat for a nice, steaming bowl of buckwheat. My rice is producing kernels now though I only have a few dozen plants. I am pretty excited about this.
I love how toasting something transforms the flavor profile and use that to enhance flavors of soups and other dishes. I toast pecans, walnuts, almonds, and some garden spices lightly and add them to spice mixes after grinding.
Thanks for this article.
There is also another article linked at the bottom about someone who drank a bottle of barley tea that had been left outside for months.
https://soranews24.com/2023/05/02/we-try-a-half-drunk-bottle...
I love stuff like that! Thanks!
Roasted barley is also appreciated in Italy prepared like an espresso (Caffe d'Orzo), and in Peru as a kind of cappuccino with brown sugar (Pinol).
Is it well regarded in either place?
I've somehow not come across these preparations. I like barley tea and have made it via other coffee methods. (cold brew/french press.) So I guess espresso makes some sense.
(Also thank you doodlebugging for the other link. I love sora news. I don't know if it's the cadence or playful sincerity or what.)
YW. I got stuck for a bit there reading some of those articles. Very fun. Good writing about things that I need to know more about. Like you I love the sense that they are trying to have fun with their writing.
Koreans also say "tea" (차) to what supposed to be called infusion in English. Barley, brown rice, corn, Solomon's seal, and jack bean are common, but there are many more. I was confused when I was communicating about Korean tea at first in English. I introduced Korean teas, but for them they didn't have tea leaves thus not tea but infusion. If you don't know about brown rice green tea, I recommend it. It is literally a mix of green tea and brown rice. You should be able to find it in Japanese, Korean, or Chinese grocery stores.
I was born in London. I'm surprised to hear English people were confused (or pedantic?) about the use of the word tea to describe an infusion.
It's common to hear the phrase 'herbal tea', referring to things that have no tea leaves.
Without it this joke wouldn't be possible: "Why do anarchists drink herbal tea?"
I get high quality brown rice mix (genmaicha) in Japan directly from growers, which is packaged separately from the tea leaves. You can mix it as you use it and to the ratio that you like and which suits the tea. And adjust for less tea if wanting to avoid caffeine in the evening. (Try to avoid tea bag products, also - besides quality challenges, most tea bags have an enormous amount of microplastics.)
For anyone looking to try this - while they sell pre-bottled mugicha [1], I highly recommend making your own from tea bags [2].
It's incredibly easy to make - just add cold water and let it sit in the fridge for a couple hours. It also tastes so much better (in my opinion), is much cheaper, and is more environmentally friendly.
A big 2L thermos filled with mugicha and ice is a great way to stay cool in the summer.
[1] https://amzn.asia/d/04ZC4opX
[2] https://amzn.asia/d/0gF1wDf8
It’s a well-known East Asian trope but I still reminisce about going to going to my grandmas house in summer and opening the fridge to drink some home made ice cold mugicha!
Even better to avoid the tea bags which are full of microplastics (though they will impart less when unheated)
Also called boricha on Korean. Can find in local H Mart.
I have not tried the Japanese roasted barley variety but houjicha, roasted green tea, is excellent and can find in Japantown.
Interesting roasting process with high heat 2x for 1 minute. Quite different than say kilning pilsner malt at low heat for a much longer time. Sure speeds up production, I bet!
I consume copious amounts of cold mugicha. It's amazingly refreshing and very cheap.
It's not the same, but I still remember the first time I was served genmai cha (roasted rice tea) at a sushi restaurant. I loved it and inquired, the server was kind enough to show me the actual tea bag — it was Yamamotoyama. Available lots of places in the US, but I used to buy it at a Japanese grocery store.
I wonder if you can get this outside Japan. I'd love to try some.
Search for "ITO EN Mugicha Barley Tea".
There are other brands of course, but I enjoy this one and it is easy to get at my local asian foods market (as well as online).
You can find it at many Asian groceries worldwide. It's also not exclusively Japanese
They carry it at my local HMART.
so cool! big fan of barley tea growing up with it
Paolo from Tokyo (https://www.youtube.com/@PaolofromTOKYO) has a ton of videos about various Japanese businesses, usually focused around the job of one person.
why not both?