| Barley tea | |
|---|---|
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| Type | Herbal tea |
| Other names |
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| Origin | East Asia |
| Quick description | Tea made from roastedbarley |
| Temperature | 100 °C (212 °F) |
| Time | 5–10 minutes |
| Barley tea | |||||||||||||||
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| Chinese name | |||||||||||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 大麥茶 | ||||||||||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 大麦茶 | ||||||||||||||
| Literal meaning | barley tea | ||||||||||||||
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| Korean name | |||||||||||||||
| Hangul | 보리차 | ||||||||||||||
| Literal meaning | barley tea | ||||||||||||||
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| Japanese name | |||||||||||||||
| Kanji | 麦茶 | ||||||||||||||
| Kana | むぎちゃ | ||||||||||||||
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Barley tea is aroasted-grain-basedinfusion made frombarley. It is a staple across many East Asian countries such asChina,Japan, andKorea. It has a toasty, bitter flavor.[1]
In Korea, the tea is consumed either hot or cold, often taking the place of drinking water in many homes and restaurants.[2][3] In Japan, it is usually served cold and is a popular summertime refreshment.[4] The tea is also widely available intea bags or bottled inKorea andJapan.[3][4]
InChina, barley tea is calleddàmài-chá (大麦茶;大麥茶) ormài-chá (麦茶;麥茶), in whichdàmài (大麦;大麥) ormài (麦;麥) means "barley" andchá (茶) means "tea".
InJapan, barley tea is calledmugi-cha (麦茶), which shares the same Chinese characters as Chinesemài-chá (麦茶;麥茶), ormugi-yu (麦湯;むぎゆ), in whichyu (湯;ゆ) also means "hot water".
InKorea, barley tea is calledbori-cha (보리차), in which the native Koreanbori (보리) means "barley" and Sino-Koreancha (Korean: 차;Hanja: 茶) shares the same Chinese character meaning "tea".
InTaiwanese Hokkien, barley tea is calledbe̍h-á-tê (麥仔茶), in whichbe̍h-á (麥仔) means "barley" andtê (茶) means "tea".
TheJapanese aristocracy has consumed the tea since theHeian Period.[5][6]Samurai began to consume it inSengoku period.[7][6] During theEdo period, street stalls specializing in barley tea became popular among the common people.[8][9][6]
The tea can be prepared by boiling roasted unhulled barley kernels in water or brewing roasted and ground barley in hot water. InJapan,tea bags containing ground barley became more popular than the traditional barley kernels during the early 1980s and remain the norm today. The tea is also available prepackaged inPET bottles.
Bottled barley tea is sold atsupermarkets,convenience stores, and invending machines in Japan and Korea. Sold mostly inPET bottles, cold barley tea is a very popular summertime drink in Japan.[4] In Korea, hot barley tea in heat-resistant PET bottles is also found in vending machines and in heated cabinets in convenience stores.[10] In Taiwan, whileAGV [zh] barley tea is a popular bottled barley tea, particularly atrestaurants in Taiwan, bottled barley tea had not been widely accepted in customer market until the 2020s.[11][12][13]
InKorea, roasted barley is also often combined with roastedmaize, as the latter's sweetness offsets the slightly bitter flavor of the barley. The tea made from roasted maize is calledoksusu-cha (corn tea), and the tea made from roasted maize and roasted barley is calledoksusu-bori-cha (corn barley tea). Several similar drinks made from roasted grains includehyeonmi-cha (brown rice tea),gyeolmyeongja-cha (sicklepod seed tea), andmemil-cha (buckwheat tea).
Roasted barley tea, sold in ground form and sometimes combined withchicory or other ingredients, is also sold as acoffee substitute.[14]
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