Green tea has been a well-known Japanese beverage for health
for quite some time now. I am a
tea drinker, and I recently re-discovered another Japanese tea common during
summer. It’s called mugi-cha (麦茶), roasted barley tea – a summer time
beverage reminding me of summer holidays at my grandparent’s. You drink it chilled, and it tastes a
little like coffee because of the roast flavor. The good news is it’s caffeine
free and calorie free, so it is even safe for small children. It would also be the perfect drink for
coffer drinkers who want to cut down caffeine intake.
I wondered if there are any health benefits other than
caffeine-free. Besides the cooling effect of barley, the
recent studies show that benefits of mugi-cha are:
- Anticoagulant – lowers blood viscosity
- Antibacterial - prevents tooth decay and gum disease
- Antioxidants – prevents inflammatory, cardiovascular, and neurodegenerative diseases
You can find mugi-cha in Asian markets. Make sure you buy one made only with
barley, without tea leaf for color or something else. You normally find tea bags packaged like
this.
Just put it in water and keep it refrigerated. I use one tea bag in a quart pitcher and
keep adding water until it tastes weak.
You can still make it in a traditional way by boiling the tea bag and
chill it in the fridge to get a stronger flavor. I read that you can make it very concentrated so it tastes
more like coffee, which you can add cream and sugar.
Update: If you don't find Japanese mugi-cha, you can ask for Korean barley tea bags. I tried one, and it tasted the same. Make sure it's 100% barley because they may mix with corn.
Update: If you don't find Japanese mugi-cha, you can ask for Korean barley tea bags. I tried one, and it tasted the same. Make sure it's 100% barley because they may mix with corn.